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AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES, 

AND 

DISCOVERIES IX THE WEST i 

BEING 
AN EXHIBITION OF THE EVIDENCE 

THAT AN ANCIENT POPULATION OF PARTIALLY CIVILIZED NATIONS, 
DIFFERING' ENTIRELY FROM THOSE OF THE PRESENT IN- 
DIANS, PEOPLED AMERICA, MANY CENTURIES BEFORE 
ITS DISCOVERY BY COLUMBUS. ■ 

AND. 

inquiries into their okiuii* 

WITH A 

COPIOUS DESCRIPTION 

Of many of their stupendous Works, now in ruins* 
WITH 

CONJECTURES CONCERNING WHAT MAY HAVE 

BECOME OF THEM, 

COMPILED 

3FROM TRAVELS, AUTHENTIC SOURCES, AND THE RESEARCHES 

OF 

antiquarian Sotietf tn> 

— /•/ • * 



BY JOSIAH PRIEST 



Third Edition Revised. 



ALBANY: ... ' 

PRINTED BY HOFFMAN AND WHITE; 

' No. 71, State-Street;. - 
183& 





NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW-YORK, To wit : 

Be it remembered, that on the twenty-first day of March, 
Anno Domini, 1833, Josiah Priest, of the said district, hath 
deposited in this office a book, the title of which is in the words 
following, to wit : " American Antiquities, and Discoveries in the 
West : Being an exhibition of the evidence that an ancient Po- 
pulation of partially civilized Nations, differing entirely from those 
of the present Indians, peopled America, many centuries before its discovery 
by Columbus. And Inquiries into their Origin, with a copious description of 
many of their stupendous works, now in ruins. With Conjectures concerning 
what may have become of them. Compiled from travels, authentic sources, 
and the Researches of Antiquarian ^Societies. By Josiah Priest." The 
right whereof he claims as author and proprietor — In conformity with an Act of 
Congress, entitled An Act to amend the several Acts respecting Copy Rights. 

RUTGER B. MILLER, 
Clerk U. S. J). C. A*. D. JV. Y. 






PREFACE 



The volume now laTd before the public, is submitted with the pleas- 
ing hope that it will not be unacceptable, although the subject of the An- 
tiquities of America is every where surrounded with its mysteries ; on which 
account, we have been compelled to wander widely in the field of conjecture, 
from which it is not impossible but we may have gathered and presented some 
original and novel opinions. 

We have felt that we are bound by the nature of the subject, to treat wholly 
on those matters which relate to ages preceding the discovery of America by 
Columbus ; as we apprehend no subject connected with the history of 
the continent since, can be entitled to the appellation of Antiquities of 
America. 

If we may be permitted to judge from the liberal subscription this work has 
met with, notwithstanding the universal prejudice against subscribing for books, 
we should draw the conclusion, that this curious subject, has not its only admi- 
rers within the pales of Antiquarian Societies. 

If it is pleasing as well as useful to know the history of one's country, if to 
feel a rising interest as its beginnings are unfolded ; its sufferings, its wars, its 
struggles, and its victories, delineated ; why not also, when the story of its an- 
tiquities, though of a graver and more majestic nature, are attempted to be 
rehearsed. 

The traits of the antiquities of the old world are every where shown by the 
fragments of dilapidated cities, pyramids of stone, and walls of wondrous length ; 
but here are the wrecks of empire, whose beginnings it would seem, are older 
than any of these, which are the mounds and works of the west, towering aloft 
as if their builders were preparing against another flood. 

We have undertaken to elicit arguments, from what we suppose evidence, 
that the first inhabitants who peopled America, came on by land, at certain 
places, where it is supposed once to have been united with Asia, Europe, and 
Africa, but has been torn asunder by the force of earthquakes, and the irrup- 
tions of the waters, so that what animals had not passed over before this great 
physical rupture, were for ever excluded ; but not so with men, as they could 
resort to the use of boats. 



IV PREFACE. 

We have gathered such evidence as induces a belief that America was, an- 
ciently, inhabited with partially civilized and agricultural nations, surpassing 
in numbers, its present population. This, we imagine, we prove, in the disco- 
very of thousands of the traits of the ancient operations of men over the entire 
cultivated parts of the continent, in the forms and under the character of mounds 
and fortifications, abounding particularly in the western regions. 

We have also ventured conjectures respecting what nations, in some few in- 
stances, may have settled here ; also what may have become of them. We have 
entered on an examination of some of those works, and of some of the articles 
found on opening some few of their tumuli ; which we have compared with 
similar articles found in similar works in various parts of the other continents, 
from which very curious results are ascertained. 

As it respects some of the ancient nations who may have found their W3y 
hither, we perceive a strong probability, that not only Asiatic nations, very soon 
after the flood, but that, also, all along the different eras of time, different races 
of men, as Polynesians, Malays, Australasians, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Greeks. 
Komans, Israelites, Tartars, Scandinavians, Danes, Norwegians, Welch, and 
Scotch, have cok>nized different; parts of the contiaent. 

We have also attempted to show that America was peopled before the flood ; 
that it was the country of Noah, and the place where the ark was erected. 
The highly interesting subject of American Antiquities, we are inclined to be- 
lieve, is but just commencing to be developed. The immensity of country yet 
beyond the settlements of men, towards the Pacific, is yet to be explored by 
cultivation, when other evidences, and wider spread, will come to view, afford- 
ing, perhaps, more definite conclusions. 

As aids in maturing this volume, we have consulted tire works of philosopher . 
historians, travellers, geographers, and gazetteers, with miscellaneous notices on 
this subject, as found in the periodicals of the day. The subject has proved a? 
difficult as mysterious ; any disorder and inaccuracies, therefoie, in point of in- 
ferences which we have made, we beg may not become the subjects of the se- 
verities of criticism. 

If, however, we should succeed in awakening a desire to a farther investiga- 
tion of this curious subject, and should have the singular happiness of set 
any degree of public respect, and of giving the subscriber an equivalent fo 
patronage, the utmost of the desires of the author will be realized. 

JOSTAH PRIEST 



CONTENTS. 



Page 
Location of Mount Ararat, % • . • • . • 9 

Traits of the history of the Chinese* before the flood, and their 
account of it, with other curious matters, 10 

The supposed origin of human complexions, with the ancient 
significations of the names of the three sons of Noah, see 
pages, 14, 291, 294, 351 

Respecting a division of the earth by Noah among his three 
sous,* 21 

Supposed identity and real name of Melchisedec of the Scrip- 
tures — of qualifications for the Jewish priesthood — and of the 
location of Paradise, 23 

Division of fhe earth in the days of Peleg, and of the spread- 
ing out of the nations from Ararat, with other curious mat- 
ters, • 31 

Antiquities of the west, consisting of mounds, tumuli, and for- 
tifications, qfi7 

Ruins of a Roman fort at Marietta, with conjectures how they 
may have found this country, 41 

Discovery of a subterranean cavity of mason work, supposed 
to have been erected by one of the admirals of Alexander, 
in ^merica, 300 years before Christ, 44 

Ireland known to the Greeks 200 years before Christ, 48 

Discoveries of subterranean hearths and fire places, on the 
shores of the Ohio, with conjectures about their origin,. • • • 49 

Discovery of a curious cup of earthen ware, 52 

Course of the Ten lost Tribes of Israel, with conjectures about 
the land of Asareth, and convulsions of the globe, • . •. 55 

Traits of Israelites in Lapland, with accounts of their theology, 
resembling that of the Jews, ■• • 02 

Traits of the Jews found in Pittsfield, Mass. • • • 66 

A late discovery of a vast body of Jews in India,* • • • • « 6? 



Vi CONTENTS. 

Page. 
A farther account of the convulsions of the globe, with the re- 
moval of islands, &c 79 

Of the island Atalantis, of the ancients, supposed to have been 

situated between Europe and America, . • • • . 80 

Evidences of an ancient population in America, different from 

that of the Indians, • • • • 83 

Discoveries on the Muskingum, of the traits of ancient nations, 
consisting of mounds, tumuli, a vault, brass rings, a large 
skeleton, stone abutments of ancient bridges, a tesselated 
pavement, with articles denoting a Hindoo population,* • • • 87 

Origin of houses among men, 97 

Great works of the ancient nations at Zanesville, Ohio, 99 

Discovery of a quantity of metallic balls hidden by the an- 
cient nations, supposed to have been gold, with conjectures 

concerning their use, 101 

Use of the sling by the ancient nations in America, &c • • • • 104 

Remains of ancient pottery in the west, 106 

A catacomb of embalmed mummies found in Kentucky, sup- 
posed to be of Egyptian origin, with suppositions how they 

may have found America, • 110 

A fac simile of the true Phoenician letters, 116 

Ancient letters or alphabets of Africa and of America, with a 

<£ac simile of their shapes, showing them to be one in origin, 118 
A further account of western antiquities, with antediluvian 
traits, the breaking up of the fountains of the great deep, 

and of the building of the ark of Noah in America, 125 

The skeleton of a whale recently found in Virginia, near an 

hundred miles from the sea, 133 

Discovery of an ivory image in a bone mound at Cincinnati, 

with conjectures respecting it, 135 

Sculptured hieroglyphics found in a cave on the Ohio, and of 

the banditti who] inhabited it, 138 

Accounts of the bones of 'the mammoth in the west, 144 

Tracks of men and animals in the rocks of Tennessee and 

elsewhere, i* 150 

Cotubamana, the giant chief of an American island, his tragi- 
cal end, with other curious notices, , 153 

A further account of discoveries in the west, as given by the 
Antiquarian society at Cincinnati, 158 



CONTENTS. Vll 



Vast works of the ancient nations on the east side of the Mus- 
kingum, with a map of three fortifications as they now appear 

in ruins,. 161 

Ruins of ancient works at Circleville, Ohio, 163 

Ancient works on Paint Creek, Ohio, 166 

Ancient wells found in the bottom of Paint Creek,. . 168 

A recent discovery of one of those ancient works among the 

Alleghanies, 169 

Description of western tumuli and mounds, 170 

A copper cross found on the breast of a skeleton, also traits of 

a Hindoo population in the west, 180 

Great works of the ancient nations on the north fork of Paint 

Creek, 1S3 

Traits of ancient cities on the Mississippi, 187 

Tradition of the native Mexicans, respecting their migrations 

from the north, « 189 

Supposed uses of the ancient roads found connected with the 

mounds, 193 

Traits of the Mosaic history found among 'the Azteca Indians, 
with an engraving, which represents men, receiving the 

languages from a bird, and Noah in his ark, 196 

Ceremonies of the worship of fire as practised by certain In- 
dian tribes on the Arkansas, 209 

Origin of the worship of fire, 212 

A further account of western antiquities, , 214 

Discovery of America by the Norwegians, Danes and Welch 

before the time of Columbus, 224 

Traditions of the Florida Indians, that Florida was once in* 
habited by white people, before Columbus, with evidences 

of the same, 234 

Specimens of mason-work of the ancient nations, . * 238 

Ruins of the city of Otolum, in America of Peruvian origin 241 
Great stone calendar of the Mexicans, with an engraving, .... 246 

Great stone castle of Iceland, * 249 

A further account of the evidence of e^tonies from Europe be- 
fore Columbus, ; 251 

Large quantity of brass found in Scipio in a field once belong- 
ing to the ancient nations, ♦ 254 

k further account of western antiquities,. , , , 256 



vlii CONTENTS 

Pagi. 

A discijptioli ol articles found in the tumuli, 260 

Great size of some of the Mexican mounds, ■, 267 

Predilection of the ancients to pyramid building, 268 

Shipping and voyages of the Mongol Tartars, and their set- 
tlements on the western coast of North America, 273 

A further account of western antiquities, « 279 

Various opinions respecting the original inhabitants of Ame- 
rica, 282 

Further remarks on the subject of human complexions,.... 291 

Still further remarks on human complexions, 294 

Canibals in America, 299 

Ancient languages of the first inhabitants of America, 304 

A fac simile, or engraving of the glyphs of Otolum, a city, the 

ruins of which is found in South America, 307 

Languages and nations of North America, 309 

Languages and nations of South America, 310 

The Atlantic nations of America, 312 

Further accounts of colonies from Europe before the time of 

Columbus,. . . , * * 316 

Primitive origin of the English language, 325 

Colonies of the Danes in America, 333 

Chronology of the the Iroquois Indians, 346 

African tribe found in South America, 349 

Disappearance of many of the western lakes, and of the for- 
mation of sea coal, . . * 352 

Further remarks on the draining of the western country of its 

ancient lakes, « ........... 367 

Causes of the disappearance of the ancient nations, 373 

Lake Ontario formed by a Volcanoe, 376 

Resemblance of the western Indians to the ancient Greeks,. .. 383 

Traits of the ancient Romans in America, 389 

American Indian languages, 393 

Languages of Oregon Chopunish and Chinuc, 395 

Gold mines in the Southern States, , , 397 

These mines known to the^tncients by the instruments dis- 
covered, ,....•; 398 



AMERICAN. ANTIQUITIES 



AiNB 



DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST, 



A lofty summit on a range of mountains, called Ararat, in 
Asia, furnished the resting place of the Ark, which contained the 
progenitors of both man and animals, who have replenished the 
Globe since the era of the Deluge. 

Ararat is a chain of mountains, running partly round the south- 
ern end of the Caspian, and is situated between the Caspian and 
Slack Seas ; in latitude north, about 38 deg. agreeing with the 
middle of the United States, and is from London a distance of about 
two thousand four hundred miles, in a southeasterly course, and 
from the city of Albany, in the United States, is nearly six thou- 
sand, in an exact easterly direction, and the same latitude, except 
a variation of but three degrees south. 

We have been thus particular to describe the exact situation, as 
generally allowed, of that range of mountains; because from this 
place, which is nearly on the western end of the Asiatic continent, 
Noah and his posterity descended, and spread themselves over ma- 
ny parts of the earth, and, as we suppose, even to America, re- 
newing the race of man, which well nigh had become extinct from 
the devastation and ruin of the universal flood, 

But that the flood of Noah was universal y is gravely doubted ; in 
proof of which, the abettors of this doubt, bring the traditional his- 
tory of the ancient Chinese- Professor Rafinesque, of the city of 
Philadelphia, confessedly a learned and most able antiquarian, has 
recently advanced the following exceedingly interesting and cu- 
rious matter. 



10 AMERICA!* ANTIQUITIES 

" History of China before the Flood. The traditions preserved 
by many ancient nations of the earliest history of the earth and man- 
kind, before and after the great geological floods, which have deso- 
lated the globe, are highly interesting ; they beloDg at once to 
geology, archeology, history and many other sciences. They are 
the only glimpses to guide us where the fossil remains or medals of 
nature, are silent or unknown. 

Ancient China was in the eastern slopes and branches. of the 
mountains of Central Asia, the hoary Imalaya^ where it is as yet 
very doubtful whether the flood thoroughly extended." 

But though this is doubted, we cannot subscribe to the opinion, 
however great our deference may be for the ability and research of 
those who have ventured to doubt We feel by far a greater de- 
ference to the statement of the author of the Hebrew Genesis ; a 
historian of the highest accredited antiquity. This author says 
plainly, that " all the high hills under the whole heaven were cover- 
ed;" and that " fifteen cubits," and upwards, did the waters pre- 
vail; and the mountains were covered. But not so, if we are to 
believe these doubters. A very large tract of country of Central 
Asia was exempt from the flood of Noah, as also a part of South 
America. 

This opinion, which contradicts the Bible account of that flood, 
is founded on " the traditional history of China, which speaks of 
two great floods which desolated, but did not overflow the land. 
They answer, says Mr. Rafinesque, to the two great floods of Noah 
and Peleg, recorded in the Bible. " The latter, the flood of Peleg, 
or Yao, in China, was caused, he says, by volcanic paroxysms all 
over the earth ;" but " much less fatal than the flood of Noah, or 
Yu-ti, in China." 

Respecting this flood, " the following details are taken chiefly 
from the Chinese historians, Liu-yu and Lo-pi, whose works are 
called Y-tse, anclUai-ki, as partly translated by Leroux." These 
says, that " the first flood happened under the 8th Ki, or period 
called Yu-ti, and the first emperor of it," was " Chin-sang, about 
3,170 years before Christ," 826, before the flood. 

But neither can this be, as the flood of Noah took place 1,656 
years from the creation, which would, therefore, be but 2,344 
years before Christ ; being a mistake of about 826 years. And, 
therefore, if there is any truth in the Chinese history at all, those 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 11 

historians must ha\e alluded to some flood before that of Noah; an 
account of which may have been received from Noah himself, and 
preserved in the Chinese histories 'written after the flood. 

The flood alluded to, by the above named historian, did not, 
it is true, overflow the whole earth, but it was such as that the 
waters did not return to their usual channels for a long time ; " the 
misery of mankind was extreme ; the beasts and serpents were 
very numerous ;" being driven together by the pursuit of the wa- 
ters, and also " storms and cold " had greatly increased. Chin-sang 
collected the wandering men to unite against the wild beasts, to 
dress their skins for clothing, and to weave their fur into webs 
and caps. This emperor was venerated for these benefits, and be- 
gan a Shi, or dynasty, that lasted 350 years." 

This account would suit very well to the character of Nimrod, 
whom we are much inclined to think the Chinese historians point 
out, instead of any king before the era of the flood of Noah. 

But to the research of this highly gifted antiquarian, Rafinesque, 
we are greatly indebted in one important respect : It is well known 
that persons in the learned world have greatly admired the boasted 
antiquity of the Chinese nations, who, by their records, make the 
earth much older than does Moses. But this philosopher on this 
subject writes as follows : " The two words, Ki and Shi, trans- 
lated period and dynasty, or family, are of some importance. As they 
now stand translated, they would make the world very old ; since 
no less than ten Ki, or periods, are enumerated, (we are in the 
10th;) wherein 232 Shi, or dynasties of emperors, are said to have 
ruled in China, during a course of 276,480 years before Christ, 
at the loivest computation ; and 96,962,220 before Christ, at the 
highest; with many intermediary calculations, by various authors. 

But if Ki, he says, may also mean a dynasty, or division, or peo- 
ple, as it appears to do in some instances, and Shi, an age, or a tribe, 
or reign, the whole preposterous computation will prove false, or be 
easily reduced to agree with those of the Hindoos, Persians and 
Egyptians ;" and come within the age of the earth as given in the 
Scriptures. 

If the central region of Asia, and parts of South America, may 
have been exempted from that flood, we may then safely inquire, 
whether other parts of the globe may not also have been exempt ; 
where men and animals were preserved ; aad thus the account of 



12 AMERICAN ANTTQUITIl 

the ark, in which, as related by Moses, both men and animate 
were saved, is completely overturned. But the universal traditions 
of all nations, contradict this, while the earth, every where, shows 
signs of the operations of the waters, in agreement with this uni- 
versal tradition. If such a flood never took place, which rushed 
over the earth with extraordinary violence, how r , it may be inquired, 
are there found in Siberia, in north latitude 60 and 70 deg., great 
masses of the bones of the elephant and rhinoceros — animals of the 
hot regions of the equator. From this it is evident that the flood 
which w r afted the bodies of those animals, rolled exactly over all 
China and the Hindoo regions. In all parts of the earth, even on 
the highest regions and mountains, are found oceanic remains 
Whales have been found in the mountains of Greenland, and also 
in other parts, as in America, far from the ocean. 

Chinese history, it is true, gives an account of many floods, 
which have ruined whole tracts of that country, as many as sixty- 
five, one of which, in the year 185 before Christ, it is said, formed 
that body of water called the Yellow Sea, situated between Corea 
and China. 

But were the history of American floods written, occasioned bv 
similar causes ; such as rivers rupturing their mountain barriers ; 
the shocks of earthquakes, since the time of Noah's flood ; who 
could say there would not be as many. We shall have occasion 
to speak of this subject before we close this volume. 

It is said that the history of China gives an account of the state 
of mankind before the flood of Tuti, or Noah, and represents them 
as having been happy, ruled by benevolent monarchs, who took no- 
thing and gave much ; the world submitted to their virtues and 
good laws ; they wore no crowns, but long hair ; never made war. 
and put no one to death. But this is also contrary to the account 
of Moses ; who says the earth before the flood was corrupt before 
God, and was filled with violence. But they carry their descrip- 
tion of the happiness of men so high, as to represent perfect har- 
mony as having existed between men and animals ; when men liv- 
ed on roots and the fruits of the earth ; that they did not follow 
hunting ; property was common, and universal concord prevailed. 
From this high wrought account of the pristine happiness of man, 
we are at once referred to the original state of Adam in Paradise, 
and to his patriarchal government after his fall ; and it is likely also 



aj*d DiscovEttrfis in the west. 13 

to that of his successors, till men had multiplied in the earth ; so as 
to form conflicting interests, when the rapine and violence com- 
menced, as spoken of by Moses, which it seems, grew worse and 
worse, till the flood came and took them all away. 

That the central parts of Asia were not overflown by the deluge, 
appears of vast importance to some philosophers of the present day 
to be established. For if so, we see, say they, at once, how both men 
and animals were preserved from that flood ; and yet this does not, 
they say, militate against the Mosaic account ; for the very word 
ark, is, in the original language, Theba, and signifies, refuge, and 
is the country of Thibet. So that when Moses talked about an 
ark, he only meant the central part of Asia, or Thibet, in which 
men and animals were saved, instead of a vessel. 

Theba or Thibet, situated in what is called Central Asia, and is 
in size equal to three-fourths of the area of the United States, is 
indeed the highest part of that continent, and produces mountains 
higher than any other part of the earth ; yet Moses says, that the 
flood prevailed fifteen cubits and upwards above the highest moun- 
tains. 

Thibet is situated in latitude 30 deg. north, exactly between 
farther India, Hindostan and Siberia, where banks of the bones of 
equatorial animals are found, as we have noticed ; by which we as- 
certain that the deluge rolled over this very Thee a, the country 
supposed to have been left dry at the time of Noah's flood- 
But it will not do ; for the Mosaic account plainly says, that God 
said to Noah, make thee an ark of gopher wood. Surely Noah 
did not make the central parts of Asia, called Theba, or Thibet; 
neither w r as he called upon to do so, as it would have taken much 
gopher wood to have formed the whole or a part of so large a coun- 
try. But respecting the word, which is translated ark, in the 
Scriptures, it is said by Adam Clarke, to be in the original Tebath, 
and not Theba. 

The word Tebath, he says, signifies vessel, and means no more 
nor less than a vessel, in its most common acceptation, a hollow 
place, capable of containing persons, goods, &c The idea, there- 
fore, that the word ark, signified the central parts of Asia, called 
Theba, or Thibet, falls to the ground ; while the history as given 
by Moses, respecting the flood of Noah, remains unshaken, 



14 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

The same author has also discovered that a race of ancient peo- 
ple, in South America, called the Zapotecas, boast of being ante- 
diluvian in America, and to have built the city of Coat-Ian, so named, 
because this city was founded at a place which swarmed with 
serpents ; therefore named Snake-city, or Coat-Ian, built 327 years 
before the flood ; and that, at the time of the flood, a remnant of 
them, together with their king, named Pet-ela, (or dog,) saved them- 
selves on a mountain of the same name, Coat-Ian. 

But we consider this tradition to relate only to the first efforts at 
house building after the flood of Noah, round about the region of 
Ararat, and on the plains of Shinar. The very circumstance of 
this tribe being still designated by that of the Dog tribe, is an evi- 
dence that they originated not before the flood as a nation, but in 
Asia, since that era; for in Asia, as in America, tribes of men have 
also been thus designated, and called after the various animals of 
the woods. The Snake Indians are well known to the western 
explorers in America, as also many other tribes, who are named 
after various wild animals. 



SUPPOSED ORIGIN OF HUMAN COMPLEXIONS, WITH THE 
ANCIENT SIGNIFICATION OF THE NAMES OF THE THREE 
SONS OF NOAH, AND OTHER CURIOUS MATTER. 

The sons of Noah were three, as stated in the book of Genesis ; 
between whose descendants the whole earth, in process of time, 
became divided. This division appears to have taken place, in 
the earliest ages of th^ first nations after the flood, in such manner 
as to suit, or correspond with the several constitutions of those na- 
tions, in a physical sense, as well as with a reference to the various 
complexions of the descendants of these three heads of the human 
race. 

This preparation of the nations, respecting animal constitution 
and colour, at the fountain head, must have been directed by the 
hand of the Creator, in an arbitrary manner ; by which not only his 
Sovereignty, as the Governor of our earth with all its tribes, is mani- 
fest, but also his Wisdom ; because the same constitution and com- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 15 

plexion, which is suited to the temperate and frigid zones of the 
globe, could not endure the burning climates of the torrid ; so nei- 
ther are the constitutions of the equatorial nations so tempered as 
to enjoy the snowy and ice-bound regions in the high latitudes north 
and south of the equator. 

The very names, or words Shem, Ham, and Japheth, were in 
the language of Noah, which was probably the pure Hebrew ; in 
some sense, significant of their future national character and pros- 
perity. We proceed to show in what sense their names were de- 
scriptive, prospectively, of their several destinies in the earth, as 
well also as that Ham was the very name of his color, or com- 
plexion. 

The word Shem, says Dr. Clarke, signifies renown, in the language 
of Noah ; which, as that great man, now no more, remarks, has 
been wonderfully fulfilled, both in a temporal and spiritual sense. 
In a temporal sense, first, as follows. His posterity spread them- 
selves over the finest regions of Upper and Middle Asia — Armenia, 
Mesopotamia, Assyria, Media, Persia, and the Indus, Ganges, and 
possibly to China, still more eastward. 

The word Japheth, which was the name of Noah's third son, has 
also its meaning, and signifies, according to the same author, that 
which may be exceedingly enlarged, and capable of spreading to a 
vast extent. 

His posterity diverged eastward and westward from Ararat, 
throughout the whole extent of Asia, north of the great range of 
the Taurus and Ararat mountains, as far as the Eastern Ocean ; 
whence, as he supposes, they crossed over to America, at the 
Straits of Bhering, and in the opposite direction from those moun- 
tains, throughout Europe, to the Mediterranean Sea, south from Ar* 
arat ; and to the Atlantic Ocean west, from the same region ; whence 
also they might have passed over to America, by the way of Ice- 
land, Greenland, and so on to the continent, along the coast of La- 
brador, where traces of early settlements remain, in parts now de- 
sert. Thus did Japheth enlarge himself, till his posterity literally 
encompassed the earth, from latitude 35 deg. north and upward, 
toward the pole. 

The word Ham, signified that which was burnt, or black. The 
posterity of this son of Noah, peopled the hot regions of the earth r 
on either side the equator. 



16 



AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 









But as it respects the complexions of these heads of the nation? 
of the earth, we remark as follows : Shem was undoubtedly a ied 
or copper colored man, which was the complexion of all the Ante- 
diluvians. 

This conclusion is drawn from the fact, that the nations inhabit- 
ing the countries named as being settled or peopled by the descend- 
ants of Shem, have always been, and now are, of that cast. We 
deem this fact as conclusive, that such was also their progenitor, 
Shem, as that the great and distinguishing features and complexion 
- of nations change not, so as to disappear. Shem was the Father of 
the Jewish race, who are of the same hue, varying, it is true, some 
being of a darker, and some of a lighter shade, arising from secret 
and undefinable principles, placed beyond the research of man ; and 
also, from amalgamation by marriage with white, and with the dark- 
er nations, as the African. But to corroborate our opinion, that the 
I Antediluvians were of a red, or copper complexion, we bring the 
well known statement of Josephus, that Adam, the first of men, 
was a red man, made of red earth, called virgin earth, because of 
its beauty and pureness. The word Adam, he also says, signifies 
that colour which is red. To this account, the tradition of the Jews 
corresponds, who, as they are the people most concerned, should be 
allowed to know most about it. 

Shem, therefore, must have been a red man, derived from the 
complexion of the first man, Adam. And his posterity, as above 
described, are accordingly of the the same complexion ; this is well 
known of all the Jews, unmixed with those nations that are fairer, 
as attested by history, and the traveller of every age, in the coun- 
tries they inhabit. 

The word Ham, which was the name of the second son of Noah, 
is the word which was descriptive of the color which is black, or 
burnt. This we show from the testimony of Dr. Hales, of Eng- 
land, who was a celebrated natural philosopher and mathematician, 
of the 17th century, who is quoted by Adam Clarke, r to show that 
the word Ham, in the language of Noah, which was that of the 
Antediluvians, was the term for that which was black- 
It is not possible, from authority so high and respectable, that 
doubts can exist respecting the legitimacy of this word, and of its 
ancient application , Accordingly, as best suited to the complexion 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 17 

of the descendants of Ham, the hot regions of the equator were 
allotted to those nations. 

To the Cushites, the southern climes of Asia, along the coast of 
the Persian Gulf, Susiane, or Cushistan, Arabia, Canaan, Pales- 
tine, Syria, Egypt, and Lybia, in Africa. These countries were 
settled by the posterity of Ham, who were, and now are, oFa glossy 
black. 

But the vast variety of shades and hues of the human face, are 
derived from amalgamations of the three original complexions, red, 
black, and white. This was the act of God, giving to the three 
persons, upon whom the earth's population depended, by way of 
perpetuity ; such complexions, and animal constitutions, as should 
be best suited to the several climates, which he intended, in the 
progress of his providence, they should inhabit. 

The people of these countries, inhabited respectively by these 
heads of nations, Shem, Ham, and Japhet 1 :, s.'S// retain. ; n full force, 
the ancient, pristine red, white, and black complexions, except 
where each have intruded upon the other, and became scattered, 
and mingled, in some degree, ovsr the earth. Accordingly, among 
the African nations, in their own proper countries,. now and then a 
colony of whites have fixed their dwellings. Among the red na- 
tions are found, here and there, as in some of the islands of the 
Pacific, the pure African ; and both the black and the red are found 
among the white natiois ; but now, much more than in the earliest 
ages, a general amalgr ^nation of the three original colors exists. 

Much has been written to establish the doctrine of the influence 
of climate and food, in producing the vast extremes between a fair 
and ruddy white, and a jet black. But this mode of reasoning, to 
establish the origin of the human complexion, we imagine, very in- 
conclusive and unsatisfactory; as it is found that no distance of 
space, lapse of ages, change of diet, or of countries, can possibly 
" remove the leopard's spots, or change the Ethiopian's skin." 
No'lapse of ages has been known to change a white man and his 
posterity to the exact hue or shape of an African, although the 
hottest rays of the burning clime of Lybia, may have scorched him 
ages unnumbered, and its soil have fed him with its roots and ber- 
ries, an equal length of time. It is granted, however, that a white 
man with his posterity will tan very dark by the heat of the sun ; 
but it never can altar, as it never has, materially altered, the shape 

3 



Y& AMERICAN ANTJQUiTIES' 

of his face ffoni that which was characteristic of his nation* of 
people, nor the form of his limbs, nor his curled hair, turning it to 
a woolj provided always, the blood be kept pure and unmixed by 
marriages with the African. 

Power in the decomposition of food, by the human stomach, does 
not exist of sufficient force to overturn the deep foundation of causes 
established in the very germ of being, by the Creator. The cir- 
cumstance of what a man may eat, or where he may chance to 
breathe, cannot derange the economy of first principles. Were it 
so, it were not a hard matter for the poor African, if he did but 
know this choice trait of philosophy, to take hope and shake off 
entirely his unfortunate skin, in process of time, and no longer be 
exposed, solely on that account, to slavery, chains, and wretch- 
edness. 

But the inveteracy of complexion against the operation of climate 
is evinced by the following, as related by Morse. On the eastern 
coast of Africa, in latitude 5 deg. north, are found jet, black, tawny, 
olive, and vjhite inhabitants, all speaking the same language, which 
is the Arabic. This particular part of Africa is called the Maga- 
doxo kingdom : the inhabitants are a stout, warlike nation, of the 
Mahometan religion. Here, it appears, is permanent evidence, that 
climate or food have no effect in materially changing the hues of 
the complexion, each retaining their own original texture ; even 
the white is found as stubborn in this torrid sky, as the black in the 
northern countries. 

The whites found there, are the descendants of the ancient Ro- 
mans, Carthagenians, Vandals, and Goths ; w r ho were, it is asserted 
by John Leo, the African, who wrote a description of Africa in Ara- 
bic, all anciently comprehended under the general name of Mauri 
or Moors, as well as the black Moors themselves. (Morse's Unir 
versal Geo. vol. ii. pp. 754. 781.) 

Shem, according to the commonly received opinion, was the eld- 
est son of Noah ; and as the complexion of this child did not differ 
from that of other children born before the flood, all of whom are 
supposed to have been red, or of the copper hue, on the ground oi 
Adam's complexion ; Noah did not, therefore, name the* child at 
first sight, from any extraordinary impulse arising from any singu- 
lar appearance in the complexion, but rather, as it was his first born 
son, he called him Shem, that is renown , which name agrees, in a 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST> 19 

"mrprising manner, with what we have hereafter to relate, respect^ 
ing this character. 

The impulse in the mind of Noah, which moved him to call this 
first son of his Shem, ox renown, may have been similar to that of 
Ihe patriarch, Jacob, respecting his first born son. He says, Reu- 
ben, thou art my first born, my might, and the beginning of my 
.strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power . 
The ideas are similar, both leading to the same consequence ; in 
one case, it is renown; in the other, the excellency of power, which 
is equivalent to renown ; all which, in both cases, arise from the 
mere circumstance of those children being the first born. 

It is not unusual for parents to feel this sensation, on the birth of 
a first child, especially if it be a son; however, it is not impossible 
but the prophetic spirit moved Noah so to name this son by the ex- 
traordinary appellation, renown, or Shem ; and the chief trait of ce- 
lebrity which was to attach itself to the character of Shem was to 
arise out of the fact of his being the type of the Messiah ; and the 
time was to come when this person, after the flood should have 
passed away, would be the < wily antediluvian survivor ; on which 
account, all mankind must, of necessity, by natural and mutual 
consent, look up to this man with extraordinary veneration. 

By examining the chronolgical account of the Jewish records, 
we find the man Shem lived five hundred years after the flood, and 
that he over-lived Abraham about forty years. So that he was not 
only the oldest man on the earth at that time, but also the only sur- 
viving antediluvian, as well as the great typical progenitor of the 
adorable Messiah. 

Here was a foundation for renown, of sufficient solidity to justify 
the prophetic spirit in moving Noah to call him Shem, a name full 
of import, full of meaning, pointing its signification, in a blaze of 
light, to Him whose birth and works of righteousness were to be 
of consequences the highest in degree to the whole race of Adam, 
in the atonement. 

But at the birth of Ham, it was different. When this child was 
born, we may suppose the house or tent to have been in an uproar, 
on the account of his strange complexion ; the news of which, we 
may suppose, soon reached the ear of the father, who, on beholding 
it, at once, in the form of exclamation, cried out, Ham ! that is, it 
is black! and this word became his name. 



20 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

It is believed, that in the first ages of the world, things were 
named from their, supposed qualities ; and their supposed qualities 
arose from first appearances. In this way, it is imagined, Adam 
named all the animals at first sight ; as the Lord God caused them 
to pass before him, a sudden impulse arising in his mind, from the 
appearance of each creature ; so that a suitable name was given. 

This was natural ; but not more so than it was for Noah to call 
his second son Ham, because he was black; being struck by this 
uncommon, unheard of, complexion of his own child, which impelled 
him at once to name him as he looked. 

We suppose the same influence governed at the birth of Japheth ; 
and that at the birth of this child, greater surprise still must have 
pervaded the household of Noah, as white was a cast of complex- 
ion still more wonderful than either red or black, as these two last 
named complexions bear a stronger affinity to each other, than to 
that of white. 

No sooner, therefore, as we may suppose, was the news of the 
birth of this third son carried to Noah, than being anxious to em- 
brace him, saw with amazement, that it was diverse from the other 
two, and from all mankind ; having not the least affinity of com- 
plexion with any of the human race ; and being in an ecstacy, at 
the sight of so fair and ruddy an infant, beautifully white and tran- 
sparent of complexion, cried out, while under the influence of his 
joy and surprise, Japheth ! which word became his name ; to this, 
however, he added afterwards, God shall greatly enlarge Japheth, 
and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem and Canaan ; that is, Ham 
shall be his servant ; so that, in a political sense, he was higher than 
the other tv, -o. 

But if our opinion on this subject is esteemed not well support- 
ed, we would add one other circumstance, which would seem to 
amount to demonstration, in proving Ham and his posterity to have 
been black at the outset. 

The circumstance is as follows : At two particular times, it ap- 
pears from Genesis, that Noah declared, Ram, with his posterity, 
should serve or become servants to both the posterity of Shem and 
Japheth. If one were to inquire whether :his has been fulfilled 
or not, what would be the universal answer ? It would be — it has 
been fulfilled. But in what way? Who ere the people? The 
universal answer is, The African race are the people. But how is 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 21 

this proved, unless we allow them to be the descendants of Ham ? 

If, then, they are his descendants, they have been such in every 
age, from the very beginning ; and the same criterion, which is 
their color, has distinguished them. This proves their progenitor, 
Ham, to have been black j or otherwise, it had been impossible to 
distinguish them from the posterity of the other two, Shem and 
Japheth ; and whether the denunciation of Noah has been fulfilled 
or not, would be unknown. But as it is known, the subject is 
clear; the distinguishing trait by which Ham's posterity were 
known at first, must of necessity have been, as it is now, black. 

We have dwelt thus far upon the subject of human complexions, 
because there are those who imagine the variety now found among 
men, to have originated purely from climate, food, and manner of 
living ; while others suppose a plurality of fathers to have been the 
cause, in contradiction of the account in Genesis, where one man is 
said to have been the father of all mankind. But on this curious 
subject, respecting the variety of complexions, see, toward the 
close of this voliime, the remarks of Professor Mitchell, late of 
New-York. 



RESPECTING A DIVISION OF THE EARTH, BY NOAH, AMONG 
HIS SONS. 

It cannot be denied but the whole earth, at the time the ark 
rested on mount Ararat, belonged to Noah, he being the prince, 
patriarch, or head and ruler of his own family ; consequently, of all 
the inhabitants of the earth, as there were none but his own house- 
This is more than can be said of any other man since the world be- 
gan, except of the man Adam. Accordingly, in the true character 
of a Patriarchal Prince, as related by Eusebius, an ecclesiastical 
writer of the fourth century, and by others, that Noah, being com- 
manded of God, proceeded to make his will, dividing the tvhole 
earth between his three sons, and their respective heirs or descend- 
ants. 

To Shem he gave all the East ; to Ham, all Africa; to Japheth, 
the continent of Europe, with its Isles, and the northern parts of 



22 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Asia, sfs before pointed out. And may we not add America, which, 
in the course of Divine Providence, is now in the possession of the 
posterity of Japheth, and it is not impossible but this quarter of the 
earth may have been known even to Noah, as we are led to sus- 
pect from the statement of Eusebius. 

This idea, or information, is brought forward by Adam Clarke, 
from whose commentary on the Scriptures, we have derived it. 
That a knowledge of not only Africa, Asia, and Europe, was in 
the, possession of Noah, but even the islands of Europe, is probable, 
or how could he have given them to the posterity of his son Japheth, 
as' written by Eusebius. 

It may be questioned, possibly, whether these countries, at so 
early a period, had yet been explored, so as to furnish Noah with 
any degree of knowledge respecting them. To this it may be re- 
plied, that he lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood, and 
more than a hundred and fifty after the building of the tower of 
Babel and the dispersion of the first inhabitants, by means of the 
confusion of the ancient language. 

This was a lapse of time quite sufficient to have enabled explor- 
ers to have traversed them, or even the whole earth, if companies 
had been sent out in different directions, for that express purpose, 
and to return again with their accounts to Noah. If the supposition 
of Adam Clarke, and others, be correct ; which is, that at that time 
$ie whole land of the globe was so situated that no continent was 
quite separate from the others by water, as they are now ; so that 
men could traverse by land the whole globe at their will : if so, 
even America may have been known to the first nations, as well *s 
other parts of the earth. 

This doctrine of the union of continents, is favored, or rather 
founded on a passage in the Book of Genesis, 10th chap. 20th ver., 
where it is stated that one of the sons of Eber was Peleg, so named, 
because, in his days, the earth was divided; the word Peleg, prob- 
ably signifying division, in the Noetic language. 

The birth of Peleg was about an hundred years after the flood, 
"the very time when Babel was being built. But we do not im- 
agine this great convulsionary division of the several quarters of 
the globe took place till perhaps an hundred years after the birth 
of Peleg, on account of the peculiar latitude of the expression, 
" in the days of Peleg." Or, it may have been even two hundred 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 23* 

years after the birth of Peleg, as this person's whole life was but 
two hundred and thirty -nine years, so that Noah over-lived' him 
eleven years. 

"In the days of Peleg," therefore, may as well be argued to 
mean, near the close of his life, as at any other period ; this would 
give time for a very considerable knowledge of the earth's coun- 
tries to have been obtained ; so that Noah could have made a 
judicious division of it among the posterity of his sons. 

This grand division of the earth, is supposed by some, to have 
been only a political division ; but by others, a physical or geogra- 
phical one. This latter opinion is favored by Adam Clarke. See 
his comment on the 25th verse of the 10th chapter of Genesis, as 
follows: " A separation of Continents and islands from the main 
land, the earthy parts having been united in one great continent, 
previous to the days of Peleg." But at this era, when men and 
animals had found their way to the several quarters of the earth, it 
seemed good to the Creator to break down those uniting portions of 
land, by bringing into action the winds, the billows, and subtera- 
nean fires, which soon, by their repeated and united forces, removed- 
each isthmus, throwing them along the coasts of the several con- 
tinents, and forming them into islands ; thus destroying^ for wise 
purposes, those primeval highways of the nations. 



SUPPOSED IDENTITY AND REAL NAME OF MELCHIS-EDE.C 3 OF 
THE SCRIPTURES. 

This is indeed an interesting problem, the solution of which has 
perplexed its thousands ; most of whom suppose him to have been 
the Son of God, some angelte^or mysterious supernatural person- 
age, rather than a mere man. This general opinion proceeds on 
the grouud of the Scripture account of him, as commonly under- 
stood, being expressed as follows : " Without father, without mo- 
tner, without descent, having neither beginning of days 3 nor end of 
life, but made like unto the Son of God, abideth a priest continu- 
ally." Hebrews vii. 3 



24 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

But, without further circumlocution, we will at once disclose our 
opinion, by stating that we believe him to have been Shem, the 
eldest son of Noah, the immediate progenitor of Abraham, Isaac, 
Jacob, and the Jews, and none other than Shem, " the man of 
name, or renown." 

We derive this conclusion from the research and critical com- 
mentary of the learned and pious Adam Clarke, who gives us this 
information from the tradition of the Jewish Rabbins, which, with- 
out hesitation, gives this honor to Shem. 

The particular part of that Commentary to which we allude as 
being the origin of our belief, on this subject, is the preface of that 
author to the Book of Job, on page 716, as follows : " Shem lived 
five hundred and two years after the deluge ; being still alive, and 
in the three hundred and ninety-third year of his life, when Abra- 
ham was born ; therefore, the Jewish tradition, that Shem was the 
Melchisedec, or my righteous king of Salem," which word Mel- 
chisedec, was " an epithet, or title of honor and respect, not a pro- 
per name, and therefore, as the head and father of his race, Abra- 
ham paid tithes to him. This seems to be well founded, and the 
idea is confirmed by these remarkable words, Psalms, 110, Jehovah 
hath sworn and will not repent, or change, at tah cohenleolam al di- 
barte Malkitsedek. As if he had said, Thou, my only begotten Son, 
first born of many brethren, not according to the substituted priest- 
hood of the sons of Levi, who, after the sin of the golden calf, stood 
up in lieu of all the first born of Israel, invested with their forfeit- 
ed rights of primogeniture of king and priest : the Lord hath sworn 
and will not repent, (change.) Thou art a priest for ever, after 
the (my order of Melchisedec, my own original primitive) order 
of primogeniture : even as Shem, the man of name, the Shem that 
stands the first and foremost of the sons of Noah. The righteous 
Prince, and Priest of the Most High God meets his descendant, 
Abraham, after the slaughter of the kings, with refreshments ; 
and blessed him, as the head and father of his race ; the Jews in 
particular ; and, as such, he received from Abraham, the tithe of all 
the spoil. 

How beautifully does Paul of Tarsus, writing to the Hebrews, 
point, through Melchisedec, (or Shem, the head and father of their 
race,) invested in all the original rights of primogeniture, Priest of 
the most High God, blessing Abraham as such, before Levi bad 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 25 

existence, and as such, receiving tithes from Abraham, and in him 
from Levi, yet in the loins of his forefathers : Moses, on this great 
and solemn occasion, records simply this : — Melchisedec, king of 
Salem, Priest of the Most High God, sine genealogia ; his pedi- 
gree not mentioned, but standing, z&Adamm St. Luke's genealogy, 
without father, and without mother, Adam of God. Luke iii. 38. 
How beautifully, I say, doth St. Paul point, through Melchisedec, 
to J ehoshua, ou* Great High Priest and King, Jesus Christ, whose 
eternal generation who shall declare ! Ha Mashiach, the Lord's 
Anointed High Priest and King, after the order of Melchisedec ; 
only begotten, first born son." 

Thus far for the preface on the subject of Melchisedec, showing 
that he was none other than Shem, the son of Noah. We shall 
now give the same author's views of the same supposed mysterious 
character, Melchisedec, as found in his notes on the 7th of Hebrews, 
commencing at the third verse. 

Without father, without mother, without descent, having 
neither beginning of days, nor end of life. " The object of the 
Apostle, in thus producing tha example of Melchisedec, was to 
show— 1st. That Jesus was the person prophesied of in the 110th 
Psalm ; which psalm the Jews uniformly understood as ^TC^ietirg 
the Messiah. 2d. To answer the objections of the Jews against 
the legitimacy of the priesthood of Christ, arising from the stock 
from which He proceeded. The objection is this : if the Messiah 
is a true Priest, he must come from a legitimate stock, as all the 
Priests under the law have regularly done ; otherwise we cannot 
acknowledge him to be a Priest. 

But Jesus of Nazareth has not proceeded from such a stock ; 
therefore, we cannot ar knowledge him for a Priest, the Antitype of 
Aaron. To this obje -lion the Apostle answers, that it was not 
necessary for the Priest to come from a particular stock ; for Mel- 
chisedec was a Priest of the Most High God, and yet was not of 
the stock either of Abraham (for Melchisedec was before Abraham/* 
or Aaron, but was a Canaamf.:. 

It is well known that the ancient Jews, or Hebrews, were ex- 
ceedingly scrupulous in choosing their High Priest ; partly by di- 
vine command, and partly from the tradition of their ancestors, 
who always considered this office to be of the highest dignity. 1st 
God had commanded, Lev. xxi. 10, that the High Priest should be 

4 



26 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

chosen from among their brethren ; that is, from the famrly of 
Aaron. 2. That he should marry a virgin. 3d. He must not 
marry a widow. 4th. Nor a divorced person. 5th. Nor a harlot. 
6th. Nor one of another nation. He who was found to have acted 
contrary to these requisitions, was, jure divino, excluded from the 
pontificate, or eligibility to hold that office. 

On the contrary, it was necessary that he who desired this honor, 
should be able to prove his descent from the family of Aaron : and 
if he could not, though even in the Priesthood, he was cast out ; 
as we find from Ezra, ii. 62, and Nehem. vii. 63. To these divine 
ordinances, the Jews have added, 1st. That no proselyte could be 
a Priest : 2d. Nor a slave : 3d. Nor a bastard : 4th. Nor the son 
of a Nethinnim ; these were a class of men who were servants to 
the Priests and Levites, (not of their tribe,) to draw water, and to 
hew wood. 5th. Nor one whose father exercised any base trade. 

And that they might be well assured of all this, they took the 
utmost care to preserve their genealogies, which were regularly 
kept in the archives of the temple. When, if any person aspired 
to the sacerdotal function, his genealogical table was carefully in- 
spected ; and if any of the above blemishes was found in him, he 
was rejected." 

But here the matter comes to a point, as it respects our inquiry 
respecting Melchisedec's having no father or mother. " He who 
could not support his pretensions by just genealogical evidences, 
was said to be without father. Thus in Bereshith Rabba, Sect, 
xviii. fol. 18, are these words, For this cause shall a man leave 
father and mother. It is said, if a proselyte to the Jewish religion 
have married his own sister, whether by the same father, or by the 
same mother, they cast her out, according to Rabbi Meir. But 
the wise men say, if she be of the same mother, they cast her out ; 
but if of the same father, they retain her, shein ab la gai, for a 
Gentile has no father, that is, his father is not reckoned in the Jew- 
ish genealogies. 

In this way, both Christ and Melchisedec were without father, 
and without mother, had neither beginning of days, descent of line- 
age, nor end of life, in their books of genealogies, which gave a 
man a right to the Priesthood, as derived from Aaron ; that is, were 
not descended from the original Jewish sacerdotal stock. Yet Mel- 
chisedec, who was a Canaanite, was a Priest of the Most High 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 2*7 

"God. This sense, Suid as* confirms, under the word Melchisedec, 
where, after stating that he reigned a prince in Salem, i. e. Jeru- 
salem, 113 years, he died a righteous man. To this he adds, " He 
is, therefore, said be without descent or genealogy, because he was 
not of the seed of Abraham, (for Abraham was his seed,) but of 
Canaanitish origin." 

We think this sufficient to show the reason why he is said to 
have had no father or mother, beginning of days, nor end of life, 
as stated in Hebrews. But this is not said of him in the Book of 
Oenesis, where we first become acquainted with this truly won- 
derful character. 

It should be recollected, that the Jewish genealogies went no far- 
ther back, for the qualifications of their priestly credentials, or 
eligibility to the pontifical office, than to the time and family of 
Aaron ; which was more than four hundred years after that of 
Abraham and Melchisedec. No wonder, then, that Christ's gene- 
alogy was not found in their records, so as to give him a claim to 
that office, such as they might approve. 

But inasmuch as Melchisedec was greater than Abraham, from 
whom the Jewish race immediately originated, he argues from the 
authority of the 110th Psalm, where Melchisedec is spoken of, 
which the Jews allowed to be spoken of Christ, or the Messiah 
who was to come, and was, therefore, a Priest after the order of 
that extraordinary Prince of Peace, and King of Salem ; because, 
neither had he such a claim on the Jewish genealogies, as required 
by the Jews, so as to make him eligible to their priesthood, for they 
knew, or might have known, that Christ did not come of the Aa- 
ronic race, but of the line or tribe of Judah. 

That he was a man, a mere man, born of a woman, and came 
into the world after the ordinary manner, is attested by St. Paul's 
own extraordinary expression. See Hebrews, vii. 4 : — " Now con- 
sider how great this man was, unto whom Abraham gave the tenth 
of the spoils." However wonderfully elevated among men, and in 
the sight of God ; however powerful and rich, wise, holy, and 
happy ; he was, nevertheless, a mere man, or the tenth of the spoils 
he would not have received. 



* Sticks, a Greek Scholar of eminence, who flourished A. D. 975, and was 
an ecclesiastical writer of that age. 



28 AMERICAN ANTQU1TIES 

But the question is, what man was he, and what was his name ? 
" Now consider how great this man was," are words which may 
possibly led us to the same conclusion, which we have quoted from 
the preface of the Book of Job. 

There are not wanting circumstances to elevate this man, on the 
supposition that he was Shem, in the scale of society, far above a 
common level with the rest of the inhabitants of his country, of suf- 
ficient importance to justify St. Paul in saying, ■* now consider how 
great this man was." 

We shall recount some of the circumstances : and first, at the 
time he met Abraham, when he was returning from the slaughter 
of the kings who had carried away Lot, the half brother of Abra- 
ham, with all his goods, his wife and children, and blessed him ; 
he was the oldest man then on the earth. This circumstance alone 
was of no small amount, and highly calculated to elevate Shem in 
the eyes of mankind ; for he was then more than five hundred and 
fifty years old. 

Second : He was then the only man on the earth who had lived 
before the flood ; and had been conversant with the nations, the in- 
stitutions, the state of agriculture and the arts, as understood and 
practised by the antediluvians. 

Third : He. was the only. man who could tell them about the lo- 
cation of the garden of Eden ; a question, no doubt, of great curi- 
osity and moment to those early nations, so near the flood ; the 
manner in which the fall of Adam and Eve took place. He could 
tell them what sort of fruit it was, and how the tree looked on 
which it grew ; and from Shorn, it is more than probable, the Jews 
received the idea that the forbidden fruit \ *.s that of the grape vine* 
as found in their traditions. 

Shem could tell them what sort of serpent it was, whether an 
Ourang Outang, as believed by some, that . le evil spirit made use 
of to deceive the woman ; he could tell hem about the former 
beauty of the earth, before j* had become ruined by the commo- 
tion of the waters of the flood : the form and situation of countries, 
and of the extent and amount of human population. He could tell 
them how the nations who filled the earth with their violence and 
rapine, used to ^o about the situation of the happy garden to which 
no men was allowed to approach nor enter, on account of the dread- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 29 

ful Cherubim and the flaming sword ; and how they blasphemed 
against the judgments of the Most High on that account. 

Fourth : Shem could inform them about the progress of the ark, 
where it was built, and what opposition and ridicule his father 
Noah met with while it was being builded ; he could tell respect- 
ing the violent manners of the antediluvians, and what their pecu- 
liar aggravated sins chiefly consisted in — what God meant when 
he said, that rt all flesh had corrupted its way before Him," except 
the single family of Noah. There are those who imagine, from 
that peculiar phraseology, u all flesh hath corrupted its way on the 
earth," that the human farm had become mingled with that of ani- 
mals. If so, it was high time they were drowned, both man and 
beast, for reasons too obvious to need illustration here ; it was high 
time that the soil was purged by water, and torn to fragments and 
buried beneath the earthy matter thrown up from depths not so 
oolluted. 

It is not at all improbable but from this strange and most hor- 
rible practice, the first ideas of the ancient statuaries were derived, 
of delineating sculpture which represents monsters, half human and 
half animal. This kind of sculpture, and also paintings, abounded 
among the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans, as well as 
other nations of the early ages. Of these shapes were many of 
their gods ; being half lion, half eagle, and half fish ; according to 
the denomination of paganism who adored these images. 

Fifth : Shem was the only man in the days of Abraham, who 
could tell them of the promised Messiah, of whom he was the most 
glorious and expressive type afforded the men, before his coming, 
as attested by St. Paul. It is extremely probable, that with this 
man, Abraham had enjoyed long and close acquaintance, for he was 
descended of his loins, from whom he learned the knowledge of 
the true God, in all probability, in the midst of his Chaldean, 
idolatrous nation, and became a convert to the faith of Melecbise- 
dec. From the familiar manner with which Melchisedec, or Shem, 
who, we are compelled to believe, was indeed Melchisedec, met 
Abraham, and blessed him, in reference to the great Messiah, we 
are strongly inclined to believe them old acquaintance. 

Sixth : It appears that Shem, or Melchisedec, had gotten great 
possessions and influence among men, as he had become king of 
Salem, or ancient Jehus, where Jerusalem was afterwards built, and 



30 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES' 

where mount Zion reared her alabaster towers, and was the only 
temple, in which the true God was understanding^ worshipped, 
then on the earth. It is not impossible but the mountainous region 
about Mount Horeb, and the mountains round about Jerusalem, 
were, before the flood, the base or foundation of the country, and 
exact location of the region of the garden called Eden, the place 
where Adam was created. But when the waters of the deluge 
came, they tore away all the earthy matter, and left standing those 
tremendous pinnacles and overhanging mountains of the region of 
Jerusalem and Mount Horeb. 

By examining the map on an artificial globe, it will be seen, the 
region of country situated between the eastern end of the Mediter- 
ranean Sea, the Black and Caspian Seas, and the Persian Gulf, 
there are many rivers running into these several waters, all head- 
ing toward each other ; among which is the Euphrates, one of the 
rivers mentioned by Moses, as deriving its origin in the garden, or 
country of Eden. Mountainous countries a/e the natural sources 
of rivers. From which we argue that Eden must have been a high 
region of country, as intimated in Genesis, entirely inaccessible on 
all sides, but the east ; at which point the sword of the Cherubim 
was placed to guard the way of the tree of life. Some have ima- 
gined the Persian Gulf to be the spot where the garden was situated. 
But this is impossible, as that the river Euphrates runs into that 
gulf, from toward Jerusalem, or from north of Jerusalem. And as 
the region of Eden was the source of four large rivers, running in 
different directions, so also, now the region round about the present 
head waters of the Euphrates, is the source of many rivers, as said 
above ; on which account, there can be but little doubt, but here 
the Paradise of Adam was situated, before the deluge. If the 
Euphrates is one of the rivers having its source in the garden or 
country of Eden, as Moses has recorded, it is then proved, to a 
demonstration, that the region as above described, is the ancient 
and primeval site of the literal Paradise of Adam. 

There is a sort of fitness in the ideas we are about to advance, 
although they are not wholly susceptible of proof, nor of verv 
convincing argument ; yet, there is no impropriety nor incongruity- 
while there is an imperceptible acquiescence steals over the mind, 
as we contemplate the subject. 

We imagine that the very spot where Jesus Christ was crucified 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 31 

may have been the place where Adam and Eve were created* 
At whatever place it was, it is certain, that not far from the identi- 
cal place, he fell, by means of the devil, or rather his own sin, as 
the time from his creation till he fell, was very short. Itis believed 
that the hill of crucifixion was also the hill called Mount Moriah, 
to which God sent Abraham to slay his son Isaac, who was also a 
type of the Messiah. Here it appears Melchisedec had the seat 
of his kingly and pontifical government. The place appears to be 
marked with more than ordinary precision, as the theatre where 
God chose to act, or cause to be acted, from age to age, the things 
which pointed to the awful catastrophe — the death of his Son. 

What is more natural than to suppose, that the Redeemer would 
choose for the scene of his victory over the enemy of man, the very 
spot where he caused his fall. Here, too, it is believed, Christ 
will, at his second coming, appear, when, with the sound of the 
first trumpet, the righteous dead will arise. The spot has been 
marked as the scene of wonders, above all other places on the 
earth ; and on this account, is it not allowable to imagine, that here 
all nations shall be gathered, filling the" whole region, not only 
of Jerusalem, but also the whole surrounding heaven, with the 
quickened dead, to attend the last judgment, while the Son of God 
shall sit on his triumphant throne in the mid air, exactly over the 
spot where he suffered, and, probably, where man fell. 

Thus far we have treated on the subject of Melchisedec, show- 
ing reasons why he is supposed to have been Shem, the son of 
Noah, and reasons why St. Paul should say, " Now consider how 
great this man was." We will only add, that the word Melchisedec 
is not the name of that man so called, but is only a term, or appel- 
lation, used in relation to him, by God himself, which is the same 
as to say, my righteous king. So that Melchisedec was not the name 
he received at his birth, but was Shem, as the Jews inform us in 
their traditions. 



32 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



DIVISION OF THE EARTH IN THE DAYS OF PELEG, AND OF 
THE SPREADING OUT OF THE NATIONS, WITH OTHER CU- 
RIOUS MATTER. 

But to return to the subject respecting the division of the earth 
in the days of Peleg. If, then, the division of the earth was a 
physical one, consequently such as had settled on its several parts 
before this division became forever separated towards the four quar- 
ters of the globe. If this position be true, the mystery is at once 
unriddled, how men and animals are found on all the earth, not 
excepting the islands, however far removed from other lands by in- 
tervening seas. 

But of this matter we shall speak again towards the close of this 
work, when we hope to throw some degree of light upon this ob- 
scure, yet exceedingly interesting subject. 

We here take the opportunity to inform the reader, that as soou 
as we have given an account of the dispersion of the inhabitant 
of the earth, immediately after the flood, from whom sprang the 
several nations mentioned in sac'rH. and profane ancient history, 
we shall then come to our main subject, namely, that of the An- 
tiquities of America. 

In order to give an account of those nations, we follow the Com- 
mentary of Adam Clarke, on the 10th chapter of the Book of 
Genesis ; which is the only book to which we can resort for in- 
formation of the kind ; all other works which touch this point, are 
only illustrative and corroboratory. Even the boasted antiquity of 
the Chinese, going back millions of ages, as often quoted by the 
sceptiCj is found, when rightly understood, to come quite within 
the account given by Moses of the creation. 

This is asserted by Baron Humboldt, an historian of the first 
order, whose mind was embellished with a universal knowledge of 
the manners, customs, and traits of science, of the nations of the 
earth, rarely acquired by any man. 

Their account of their first knowledge of the oldest of their gods, 
shows their antiquity of origin to be no higher than 'the creation, 
as related in Genesis. Their Shastrus, a book which gives an ac- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 33 

count of the incarnation of the god Vishnoo, states, that his first in- 
carnation was for the purpose of bringing up the Vedus, [sacred 
books,] from the deep. This appearance of Vishnoo, they say, 
was in the form of a fish. The books, the fish, and the deep, are 
all derived from Noah, whose account of the creation has furnish- 
ed the ground of this Chinese tradition. In his second incarna- 
tion, he took the newly created world on his back, as he assumed 
the form of a tortoise, to make it stable. This alludes to the 
Mosaic account, which says, God separated the water from the dry 
land, and assigned them each their place. In his third incarna- 
tion, he took the form of a wild boar, and drew the earth out of 
the sea, into which it bad sunk during a periodical destruction of 
the world. 

This is a tradition of the deluge, and of the subsiding of the wa- 
ters, when the tops of the mountains first appeared. 

A fourth incarnation of this god, was for the rescue of a son, 
whose father was about to slay him. What else is this but the ac- 
count of Abraham's going to slay his son Isaac, but was rescued 
by the appearance of an angel, forbidding the transaction. In a 
fifth incarnation, he destroyed a giant, who despised the gods, and 
committed violence in the earth. This giant was none other than 
Nimrod, the author of idolatry, the founder of Babel, who is called, 
even by the Jews, in their traditions, a giant. 

The inhabitants of the Tonga Islands, in the South Pacific ocean, 
have a similar opinion respecting the first appearance of land, which 
evidently points to the flood of Noah. 

They say, that at a certain time, the god Tangaloa, who was re- 
puted to preside over arts and inventions, went forth to fish in the 
great ocean, and having from the sky let down his hook and line 
into the sea, on a sudden he felt that something had fastened to his 
hook, and believing he had caught an immense fish, he exerted all 
his strength, and presently there appeared above the surface seve- 
ral points of rocks and mountains, which increased in number and 
extent, the more he strained at his line to pull it up. 

It was now evident, that his hook had fastened to the very bot- 
tom of the ocean, and that he was fast submerging a vast continent; 
when, unfortunately, the line broke, having brought up only the 
Tonga Islands, which remain to this day. 

5 



34 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

The name of this fishing god, was Tangaloa, which we imagine: 
is a very clear allusion to the summits of Ararat, which first ap- 
peared above the waters of the flood in Asia. 

" Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, — Shem r 
Ham, and Japheth ; and unto them were sons born after the flood." 
Genesis x. 1st verse, and onward. 

The sons of Japheth : " Japheth is supposed to be the same with 
Japetus of the Greeks, from whom, in an extreme remote antiquity, 
that people were supposed to have derived their origin. On this 
point most chronologists are pretty well agreed. Gomer is sup- 
posed to have peopled Galatia ; this was a son of Japheth. So 
Josephus, who says that the Galatians, (or French people, derived 
from the ancient Belgiac tribes,) were anciently named Gomerites* 
From him the Cimmerians, or Cimbrians, are supposed to have de- 
rived their origin. Bochart, a learned French protestant, born at 
Rouen, in Normandy, in the 16th century, has no doubt that the 
Phrygians sprung from this person ; and some of our principal com- 
mentators are of this opinion. 

Madai, one of the sons of Japheth, is supposed to be the progen- 
itor of the ancient Medes. Javan, was another of his sons, from 
whom, it is almost universally believed, sprung the Ionians of Asia 
Minor. Tubal, is supposed to be the father of the Iberians, and 
that a part, at least, of Spain was peopled by him and his descend- 
ants; and that Meschech, who is generally in Scripture joined with 
him, was the founder of the Cappadocians, from whom proceeded 
the Muscovites, or Russians. 

Tiras : From this person, according to general consent, the Thra^ 
cians derived their origin. Ashkenaz ; from this person was de- 
rived the name Sacagena, a province of Armenia. 'Pliny , one of 
the most learned of the ancient Romans, who lived immediately 
after the commencement of the Christian era, mentions a people 
called Ascanticos, who dwelt about the Tannis,oi Palus-Maeoticus , 
and some suppose, that from Ashkenaz the Euxine or Black t Sea 
derived its name ; but others suppose, that from him the Germans 
derived their origin. 

Riphath : The founder of the Paphiagonians, which were cal- 
led anciently, Riphatoel. Tog arm a ; the inhabitants of Sauromate*. 
or of Turcomania. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 35 

Elishah : As Javan peopled a considerable part of Greece, 
it is in that region we must look for the settlements of his descend- 
ants. Elishah probably. was the iirst who settled at Elis, in Pelo- 
ponnesus. Tarshis : He first inhabited Cilicia^ whose capital, 
anciently, was the city of Tarsus, where St. Paul was born. 

Kittim : Some think, by this name is meant Cyprus ; others, 
the isle of Chios ; and others, the Romans ; and others., the Mace- 
donians. 

Dodanim, or Rodanim : Some suppose, that this family settled at 
Dodana ; others, at the Rhone, in France ; the ancient name of 
which was Rhodanus, from the Scripture Rhodanim : u By these, 
were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands." Europe ; 
of which this is allowed to be a general epithet, and comprehends 
all those countries to which the Hebrews were obliged to go by 
sea; such as Spain, Gaul or France, Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor. 

Thus far we have noticed the spreading out over many countries, 
and the origin of many nations, arising out or from Japheth, one of 
the sons of Noah ; all of whom are white, or at least come under 
that class of complexions. 

The descendants of Ham, another of the sons of Noah, and some 
of the nations springing from him, we shall next bring to view 
" Cush, who peopled the Arabic nome y or province, near the Red 
Sea, in Lower Egypt. Some think the Ethiopians sprung from 
him. 

Mizram : This family certainly peopled Egypt, and both in the 
east and the west, Egypt is called Mizraim. 

Phut : Who nrst#peopled an Egyptian Dome, or district, bor- 
dering on Lybia. Canaan ; he who first peopled the land so cal- 
led; known also by the name of ih& Promsed Land. These were 
the nations which the Jews, who descended from Shein^ cast out 
from the land of Canaan, as directed by God, because of the enor- 
mity and brutal nature of their crimes ; which were such as nu man 
of the present age, blessed with a Christian education, would ex- 
cuse on a jury, under the terrors of an oath, from the punishment 
of death. They practised, as did the antediluvians and the Sodom- 
ites, those things which were calculated to mingle the human with 
the brute. Surely, when this is understood, no man, not even a 
disbeliever in the inspiration of the Bible , will blame Moses for his 



36 • AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

seeming severity, in cutting off those nations with the besom of 
entire extermination. 

." Seea, the founder of the Sabeans : There seems to be three 
different people of this name, mentioned in this 10th chapter of 
Genesis, and a fourth, in chapter 25 of the same book." The queen 
of Sheba was of this race, who came, as it is said, from the utter- 
most parts of the earth, to Jerusalem, to know the wisdom of Solo- 
mon, and the Hebrew religion ; she was, herefore, being a de- 
secendant of Ham's posterity, a black woman. 

Ha vi-la, Sabtah, Ramah, Sabtechah, Sheba, Dedan; these are 
names belonging to the race of Ham, but the nations to whom they 
gave rise, is not interesting to our subject. Nimrod, however, 
should not be omitted, who was of the race of Ham, and was his 
grandson. Of whom it is said, that he was a mighty hunter before 
the Lord ; meaning not only his skill and courage, and amazing 
strength and ferocity, in the destruction of wild animals which in- 
fested the vast wilds of the earth at that time, but a destroyer of 
men's lives, and the originator of idolatry. 

It was this Nimrod, who opposed the righteous Melchisedec ; 
and taught, or rather compelled, men to forsake the religion of 
Shem, or Melchisedec, and to follow the institutes of Nimrod. 
" The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Acad, and 
Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Gen. x. 10. The tower of Babel, 
and city of Babylon, were both built on the Euphrates. Babel, how- 
ever, was first built by Nirarod's agency, whose influence, it ap- 
pears, arose much from the fierceness of his disposition, and, from 
his stature and great muscular powers ; qualifications, which ig- 
norant and savage nations, in every age, have been found apt to re- 
vere. The Septuagint version of the Scriptures, speaks of Nimrod 
as being a surly giant ; this was a colored man, and the first mon- 
arch of the human race since the flood. But whether monarchical 
or republican forms of government obtained before the flood, is un- 
certain. Probability would seem to favor neither ; but rather that 
thf» Patriarchal government should then have ruled. Every father, 
to the fourth and fifth generation, must have been, in those davs, 
the natural king or chief of his clan. 

These, after a while, spreading abroad, would clash with each 
other's interest, whence petty wars would arise, till many tribes 
being, by the fortune of war, weakened, that which hsd been most 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- 37 

fortunate, would at once seize upon a wider empire. Hence mo- 
narchies arose. But whether it so fell out before the flood, can- 
not now be ascertained. A state, however, of fearful anarchy 
seems to be alluded to in the Scriptures ; where it is said, that the 
earth was "filled loith violence." This, however, was near the time 
of the flood. 

Popular forms of government, or those called republican or de- 
mocratical, had their origin when a number of distant tribes or 
clans invade a district or country so situated as that the interests of 
different tribes were naturally somewhat blended ; these, in order 
to repel a distant or~strange enemy's encroachments, would natur- 
ally unite under their respective chiefs or patriarchs. Experience 
would soon show the advantage of union. Hence arose republics. 

The grand confederacy of the five nations, which took place 
among the American Indians, before their acquaintance with the 
white man, shows that such even among the most savage of our 
race, may have often thus united their strength — out of which civi- 
lization has sometimes, as well as monarchies and republics, arisen. 

Since the flood, however, it is found that the descendants of 
Japheth originated the popular forms of government in the earth ; 
as among the Greeks, the Romans, and more perfectly among the 
Americans, who are the descendants of Japheth. 

We shall omit an account of the nations arising out of the de- 
scendents of Shem, (for we need not mention the Jews, of whom 
all men know they descended from him ;) for the same reasons as- 
signed for the omission of a part of the posterity of Ham, because 
they chiefly settled in those regions of Asia, too remote to answer 
our subject any valuable purpose. 

il In confirmation, however, that all men have been derived from 
one family, let it be observed, hat there are many usgaes, both 
sacred and civil, which have prevailed in all parts of the world, 
which could owe their origin to nothing but a general institution, 
which could not have existed, had not mankind been of the same 
blood originally, and instructed in the same common notions 
before they were dispersed" from the mountains of Ararat,, and 
the family of Noah. Traits of this description, which argue to 
this conclusion, wili, in the course of this work, be made to appear ; 
which to such as believe the Bible, will afford peculiar pleasure 
and surprise. 



38 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



ANTIQUITIES OF THE WEST 

There are no parts of the kingdoms or countries of the old 
world, .but have celebrated in poetry and sober history, the mighty 
relics and antiquities of ancient empires, as Rome, Babylon, Greece, 
Egypt, Hindostan, Tartary, Africa, China, Persia, Europe, Russia, 
and many of the islands of the sea. It yet remains for America to 
awake her story from its oblivious sleep, and tell the tale of her 
Antiquities — the traits of nations, coeval, perhaps, with the eldest 
works of man this side of the flood. 

This curious subject, although it is obscured beneath the gloom 
of past ages, of which but small reeord remains ; beside that which 
is written in the dust, in the form oT mighty mounds, tumuli, 
strange skeletons, and aboriginal fortifications ; and, in some few 
instances, the bodies of preserved persons, as sometimes found in 
the nitrous caves of Kentucky, and the west ; affording abundant 
premises to prompt investigation and rational conjecture. The 
mounds and tumuli of the west, are to be ranked among the most 
wonderful antiquities of the world, on the account of their number, 
magnitude, and obscurity of origin. 

" They generally are found on fertile bottoms and near the rivers. 
Several hundreds have been discovered along the Valley of the 
Mississippi ; the largest of which stands not far from Wheeling, on 
the Ohio. This mound is fifty rods in circumference, and ninety 
feet in perpendicular height. 

This is found filled with thousands of human skeletons, and was 
doubtless a place of general deposite of the dead for ages ; which 
must have been contiguous to some large city, where dead were 
placed in gradation, one layer above another, till it reached a natu- 
ral climax, agreeing with the slope commenced at its base or foun- 
dation. 

It is not credible, that this mound was made by the ancestors of 
the modern Indians. Its magnitude, and the vast number of dead 
deposited there, denote a population too great to have been sup- 
ported by mere fishing and hunting, as the manner of Indians has 
always been- A population sufficient to raise such a mound as this. 



AND discoveries in the west. 39 

of earth, by the gradual interment of deceased inhabitants, would 
necessarily be too far spread, to make it convenient for the living to 
transport their dead to one single place of repository. The modem 
Indians have ever been known, since the acquaintance of white 
men with them, to live only in small towns ; which refutes the idea 
of its having been made by any other people than such as differ 
exceedingly from the improvident and indolent native ; and must, 
therefore, have been erected by a people more ancient than what 
is commonly meant by the Indian aborigines, or wandering tribes. 

Some of these mounds have been opened, when, not. only vast 
quantities of human bones have been found, but also instruments 
of warfare, broken earthen vases, and trinkets. From the trees 
growing on them, it is supposed, they have already existed at least 
six hundred years ; and whether these trees were the first, second, 
or third crop, is unknown ; if the second only, which, from the old 
and decayed timber, partly buried in the vegetable mould and 
leaves, seems to favor, then it is all of twelve hundred years since 
they were abandoned, if not more. 

Foreign travellers complain, that America presents nothing like 
ruins within her boundaries ; no ivy mantled towers, nor moss cov- 
ered turrets, as in the other quarters of the earth. Old Fort War- 
ren, on the Hudson, rearing its lofty decayed sides high above 
West-Point ; or the venerable remains of two wars, at Ticonderoga, 
upon Lake Champlain, they say, afford something of the kind. 
But what are mouldering castles, falling turrets, or crumbling ab- 
beys, in comparison with those ancient and artificial aboriginal hills, 
which have outlived generations, and even all traditions ; the work- 
manship of altogether unknown hands. 

Place these monuments and secret repositories of the dead, to- 
gether with the innumerable mounds and monstrous fortifications, 
which are scattered over America, in England, and on the conti- 
nent of Europe, how would their virtuosi ermine, and their anti- 
quarians fill volumes with their probable histories. How would 
their fame be conveyed from learned bodies, and through literary 
volumes, inquiring who were the builders, of what age of the world, 
whence came they, and their descendants ; if any, what has be- 
come of them ; these would be the themes of constant speculation 
and inquiry. 



40 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

t 

At Marietta, a place not only celebrated as being the first settle- 
ment on the Ohio, but has also acquired much celebrity, from the 
existence of those extensive and supposed fortifications, which are 
situated near the town. They consist of walls, and mounds of 
earth, running in straight lines, from six to ten feet high, and nearly 
forty broad at their base. There is also, at this place, one fort, ol 
this ancient description, which encloses nearly fifty acres of land. 

There are openings in this fortification, which are supposed to 
have been, when thronged with its own busy multitude, " used as 
gateways, with a passage from one of them, formed by two parallel 
walls of earth, leading towards the river. 

This contrivance was undoubtedly for a defence against surprise 
by an enemy, while the inhabitants dwelling within should fetch 
water from the river, descend thither to wash, as in the Ganges, 
among the Hindoos. Also the greatness of this fort is evidence, 
not only of the power of its builders, but also of those they feared. 
Who can tell but they may have, by intestine feuds and wars, ex- 
terminated themselves ? Such instances are not unfrequent among 
petty tribes of the earth. Witness the war between Benjamin and 
his brother tribes, when, but a mere handful of their number re- 
mained to redeem them from complete annihilation. Many na- 
tions, an account of whom, as once existing, is found on the page 
of history, now, have not a trace left behind. More than sixty 
tribes which once traversed the woods of the west, and who were 
known to the first settlers of the New-England states, are now 
extinct. 

" The French of the Mississippi have an account, that an exter- 
minating battle was fought in the beginning of the 17th century, 
about one hundred and thirty-two years ago, on the ground where 
Fort Harrison now stands ; between the Indians living on the Mis- 
sissippi, and those of the Wabash. The bone of contention was, 
the lands lying between those rivers, w^hich both parties claimed. 
There were about 1000 warriors on each side. The condition of 
the fight was, that the victors should possess the lands in despute. 
The grandeur of the prize was peculiarly calculated to inflame the 
ardor of savage minds. The contest commenced about sunrise. 
Both parties fought desperately. The Wabash warriors came off 
conquerors, having seven men left alive at sunset, and their adver- 
saries, the Mississippians, but five This battle was fought nearly 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- 41 

fifty years before their acquaintance with white men." (Webster's 
Gazetteer, 1817, page 69.) 

It is possible, whoever the authors of these great works were, 
or however long they may have lived on the continent, that they 
may have 3 in the same way, by intestine feuds and wars, weak- 
ened themselves, so that when the Tartars, Scythians, and descend- 
ants of the ten lost tribes, came across the Straits of Bhering, that 
they fell an easy prey, to those fierce and savage northern hordes. 

It is not likely, that the vast warlike preparations which extend 
over the whole continent, south of certain places in Canada, were 
thrown up, all of a sudden, on a first discovery of a strange enemy ; 
for it might be inquired, how should they know of such a mode of 
defence, unless they had acquired it in the course of ages, arising 
from necessity or caprice ; but it is probable, they were constructed 
to defend against the invasions of each other ; being of various 
origin and separate interests, as was much the situation of the an- 
cient nations in every part of the world. 

Petty tribes of the same origin, over the whole earth, have been 
found to wage perpetual war against each other, from motives of 
avarice, power, or hatred. In the most ancient eras of the history 
of man, little walled towns, which were raised for the security of a 
few families, under a chief, king, or patriarch, are known to have 
existed ; which is evidence of the disjointed and unharmonious 
state of human society ; out of which, wars, rapine, and plunder, 
arose : such may have been the state of man in America, before 
the Indians found their way here ; the evidence of which is, the 
innumerable fortifications, found every where in the western re- 
gions. 

Within this fort, of wriich we have been speaking, found at 
Marietta, are elevated squares, situated at the corners; some an 
hundred and eighty feet long, by an hundred and thirty broad, nine 
feet high, and level on the top. On these squares, erected at the 
corners of this great enclosure, were, doubtless, placed some modes 
of annoyance to a beseiging enemy ; such as engines to sling stones 
with, or to throw the dart and spear, or whatever might have been 
their modes of defence. 

Outside of this fort, is a most singular mound, differing in form 
from their general configuration : its shape is that of a sugar loaf, 
the base of which is more than an hundred feet in circumference , 

6 



42 AMERICAN ANTI QUITIES 

its height thirty, encompassed by a ditch, and defended by a para- 
pet, or wall beyond the ditch, about breast high, through which is 
a way toward the main fort. Human bones have been taken from 
many of these mounds, and charcoal, with fragments of pottery ; 
and -what is more strange than all the rest, in one place, a skeleton 
of a man, buried east and viest after the manner of enlightened 
nations was found, as if they understood the cardinal points of the 
compass." On the breast of this skeleton was found a quantity of 
isinglass, a substance sometimes used by the ancient Russians, for 
the' purposes that glass is now used. 



RUINS OF A ROMAN FORT AT MARIETTA. 

But respecting this fort, we imagine, that even the Romans may 
have built it, however strange this may appear. The reader will 
be so kind as to have patience till we have advanced all our reasons 
for this strange conjecture, before he cast- it from him as im- 
possible. 

Our reasons for this idea, arise out of the great similarity there 
is between its form and fortifications, or camps, built by the an- 
cient Romans. And in order to show the similarity, we have quo- 
ted the account of the forms of Roman camps from Josephus's de- 
scription. of their military works. See his works, Book v. -chap. 5, 
page. 21 9, as follows: 

"Nor can their enemies easily surprise them with the sudden- 
ness of their incursions, for as soon as they have marched into an 
enemy's land, they do not begin to fight till they have walled their 
camp about j nor is .the fence they raise, rashly made, or uneven ; 
nor do they all . abide in it ; nor do those that are in it, take their 
place at random : but if it happens that the ground is uneven, it is 
first levelled." 

" Their camps are also four square by measure ; as ;for what 
space is Within the camp, it is set apart for tents, but the outward 
circumference hatfithe resemblance to a wall 5 and is adorned with 
towers at equal distances, where, between the towers stand the en- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST, 43 

gines for throwing arrows and darts, and for slinging stones, where 
they lay all other engines that can annoy the enemy, all ready for 
their several operations. 

"They also erect four gates, one in the middle of each side of 
the circumference, or square, and those large enough for the en- 
trance of beasts, and wide enough for making excursions, if oc- 
casion should require. They divide the camp within into streets, 
very conveniently, and place the tents of the commanders in the 
middle ; in the very midst of all, is the general's own tent, in the 
nature and form of a temple^ insomuch that it appears to be a city, 
built on the sudden, with its market place, and places for handi- 
craft trades, and with seats for the officers, superior and inferior, 
where if any differences arise, their causes are heard and deter- 
mined. 

" The camp and all that is in it, is encompassed with a wall 
round about, and that sooner than one, would imagine, and this by 
the multitude and skill of the laborers. And if occasion require, 
a trench is drawn round the whole, whose depth is four cubits, and 
its breadth equal," which is a trifle more than six feet in depth and 
width. 

•The similarity between the Roman camps and the one near Ma- 
rietta, consist's as follows: They are both four square; the one 
standing near the great fort, and is connected by two parallel walls, 
as described ; - has also a ditch surrounding it, as the Romans some-, 
times encircled theirs ; and doubtless, when first constructed, had 
•a fence of timber (as Joseph as says, the Romans had,) ail round 
it, and all other forts of that description ; but. time has destroyed 
them. 

If the Roman camp had its elevated squares at its corners, for 
the purposes of overlooking the foe" and of shooting stones, darts, 
and arrows ; so had the fort at .Marietta, of more than an hundred 
.feet square, on an average, of their forms, and nine feet high. Its 
parapets ana" gateways are similar ; also the probable extent of the 
Roman encampments agrees well with the one at Marietta,* which 
embraces near fifty acres* within its. enclosure'; a" space sufficient to 
have contained a great army ; with streets and elevated squares at 
its corners, like the Romans. Dr. Morse, the geographer,' says, 
the war camps of the ancient Danes, Belgae, and Saxons, as found 
in England'} were universally of the circular,. while those of the 



44 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Romans, in the same country, are distinguished by the square form \ 
is not this, therefore, a trait of the same people's work in America^ 
as in England ? 
.'Who can tell but during the jour hundred years the Romans had 
all the west of Europe attached to their empire, but they may haye 
found their way to America, as weil'as other nations, the Welch, 
and the Scandinavians, in after ages, as we shall show, before we* 
end the volume. 

Rome, it must be remembered, was mistress of the known world, 
as they, supposed, and were in the possession of the arts and scien- 
ces ; with a knowledge of navigation sufficient to 'traverse the oceans 
of the globe, even without the compass, by means of the stars by 
night, and the sun by day. 

The history of England informs us, -that as early as fifty-five 
years before the- Christian era, the' Romans invaded the island of 
Britain, and that their ships were so large and heavy, and. drew 
such a depth of water, that their soldiers were obliged to leap into 
the sea, and fight their way to the shore, struggling with the waves 
and the enemy, both at once, because they could not bring their 
vessels near the shore, on account of -their size. 

America has not yet been , peopled from Europe .so long, by an 
hundred years, as the Romans were in* possession of the Island of 
Britain. Now what has not America effected in enterprise, during' 
this time ;' and although her advantages are superior to those of the 
Romans, when they held England as a province, yet, we are not 
to suppose they Were' idle, especially when their character at' that 
time, was a. martial' and a maratime one. In this character, .there- ' 
fore, were they not exactly fitted to make discoveries about in the 
northern and western parts of the ^Atlantic, and may, therefore, 
have found America ; made partial settlements in yarious places j 
may have, coasted along down the shores of this . country, till- they 
came to "the mouth of the Mississippi, and thence up that stream, 
making here arid there a settlement: This supposition is as natural, 
and as possible, for the Romans to have done, as that Hudson. should 
find the mouth of the North River, and explore it as far north as 
to where the .city of Albany is now standing. 

It was equally in their power to have 'founo 1 this coast by chance, 
as the Scandinavians in the vear 1000 or thereabouts, who made a 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 45 

settlement at the mouth of the St. Lawrence ; but more of this in 
due time. 

To show the Romans did actually go on voyages of discovery, 
while in possession of Britain, we quote from the history of Eng- 
land, that when Julius Agricola was governor of South Britain, he 
sailed quite around it, and ascertained it to be an island. 

This was about an hundred years after their first subduing the 
country, or fifty-two years after Christ. 

But they may have had a knowledge of the existence of this 
country, prior to their invasion of Britain. And lest the reader 
may be alarmed at such a position, we hasten to show in what man- 
ner they might have attained it, by relating a late discovery of a 
, planter in South America. 

" In the month of December, 1827, a planter discovered in a 
field,, a short distance from Mont- Video, a sort of tomb stone, upon 
which strange, and to him, unknown signs, or characters, were en- 
graved. He caused this stone, which covered a small excavation 
formed with masonry, to be'raised, when he found two exceeding- 
ly ancient swords^ a helmet, and shield, which had suffered much 
.from rust; also an earthen vessel of large capacity. 

The planter caused ihe swords, the helmet, and earthen amphora, 
together with the stone slab, which covered the. whole, to be re- 
-moved to Mont -Video, where, in spite .of the effect of time, 
Greek words were easily made out ; which, when translated, read 
as follows : " During the dominion of Alexander the son of Philip, 
King of Macedon, in the sixty-third Olympiad, Ptolemais," — it 
was impossible to decipher the rest,- on account of the ravages of 
time on the engraving of the stone. 

On the handle of one of the swords, was the portrait of a man, 
supposed to be Alexander the Great. On the helmet there is sculp- 
tured work, that must have been- executed by the most exquisite 
skill, representing Achilles, dragging the corpse of Hector round the 
walls of Troy > an account of which is familiar to every -classic 
scholar'. • 

This " discovery was similar to the Fabula Hieca, the bass relief 
stucco., found in the ruins of the Via Appia, at Fratachio, in Spain, 
belonging to the Princess of Colona, which represented all the prin- 
cipal scenes in Iliad and Odyssey. 



46 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

From this, it is quite clear, says the editor of the Cabinet of In- 
struction and Literature, from which we have extracted this ac- 
count, vol. 3, page 99, tha't the discovery of this monumental altar 
is proof that a cotemporary of Aristotle, one of the Greek philoso- 
phers, has dug up the soil of Brazil and La Plata, in South America. 

It is conjectured that this Ptolemaios, mentioned on the stone, 
was the commander of Alexander's fleet, which is supposed to have 
been overtaken by a sto m at sea, in the g "eat ocean, (the Atlantic,) 
as the ancients called it, and were driven on to the coast of Brazil, 
or the South America i coast, where they doubtless erected the 
above mentioned monument, to preserve the memory of the voyage 
to so distant a country ;" and that it might not be lost to the world, 
if any in after ages might chance to find it, as at last it was per- 
mitted to be in the progress of events. 

The above conjecture, however, that Ptoiemaios, a name found 
engraved on the ston^ slab which covered the mason work as be- 
fore mentioned, was one of Alexander's admirals, is not well found- 
ed, as there is no mention of such an admiral in the employ of that 
emperor, found on th ; page of the history of those times. 

But the names of Nearehus and Onesicritus, are mentioned as 
being admirals of th 3 fleets of Alexander the Great ; and the name 
of Pytheas, whc hV:J at the same time, is mentioned as being a 
Greek philosopher iographer, and astronomer, as well as a voy- 
ager, if not an admi al, as he made several voyages into the great 
Atlantic ocean ; whi^h are mentioned by Eratosthenes, a Greek 
philosopher, mathematician and historian, who flourished two hun- 
dred years before C 'irist. 

Strabo, a celebrate d geographer and voyager, who lived about 
the time of the commencement of the Christian era, speaks of the 
voyages of Pytheas, ' y way of admission ; and says that his know- 
ledge of Spain, Gau\ Germany, and Britain, and all the countries 
of the north of Europe, was extremely limited. He had indeed 
voyaged along the coasts of those countries, but had obtained but 
an indistinct knowledge of their relative situations. * 

During the advent' res of this man at sea, for the very purpose 
of ascertaining the geography of the earth, by tracing the coasts of 
countries, there was *» great liability of his being driven off in a 
western direction, noi only by the current which sets always to- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 47 

wards America, but also by the trade winds, which blow in the 
same direction for several months in the year. 

Pytheas, therefore, with his fleet, it is most probable, either by 
design or storms, is the man who was driven on the American 
coast, and caused this subterranean monument of masonry to be 
erected. The Piolemaios, or Ptolemy, mentioned on the stone, may 
refer to one of the Jour generals of Alexander, called sometimes 
Ptolemy Lagus, or Soter. This is the man who had Egypt for his 
share of the conquests of Alexander ; and it is likely the mention 
of his name on the stone, in connexion with that of Alexander, was 
caused either by his presence at the time the stone was prepared, 
or because he patronised the voyages and geographical researches 
of the philosopher and navigator Pytheas. 

Alexander the Great flourished about three hundred years before 
Christ ; he was a Grecian, the origin of whose nation is said to 
have been Japetus, a descendant of Jipheth, one of the ^ons of 
Noah, as before shown 

Let it.be observed, the kingdom of Macedon, of which Alexan- 
der was the last, as well as the greatest of its kings, commenced 
eight hundred and fourteen years, before Ch ist, which was sixty- 
one years earlier than the commencement of the Romans. 

.Well, what is to be learned from all this story about the Greeks, 
respecting any knowledge in possession of the Romans about a con- 
tinent west of Europe ? Simply this, which is quite sufficient for 
our purpose : That an account of this voyage, whether it was an 
accidental one, or a voyage of discovery, co Id not but be knoiun to 
the Roman's, as well as to the Greeks, and entered on the records 
of the nation on their return. But where, the 1 !, is the record? We 
must go to the flames of the Goths and Vam'als, who overran the 
Roman empire, in which the discoveries, both of countries and the 
histories of antiquity, were destroyed ; casting over those countries 
which they subdued, the gloom of barbarous ignorance, congenial 
with the shades of the dreadful forests of the north, from whence 
they originated. On which account, countries, and the knowledge 
of many arts, anciently known, were to be discovered over again 
and among them, it is believed, was America. 

When Columbus discovered this country, pud had returned to 
Spain, it was soon known to all Europe. 1 1 e same we may sup- 
pose of the discovery of the same country by the Greeks, though 



AS AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

with infinite less publicity ; because the world at the time had not 
the advantage of printing ; yet, in some degree, the discovery must 
have been known, especially among the great men of both Greeks 
and Romans. 

The Grecian or Macedonian kingdom, after the death of Alex- 
ander, maintained its existence but a short time, one hundred and 
forty-four years only ; when the Romans defeated Perseus, which 
ended the Macedonian kingdom, one hundred and sixty-eight years 
before Chri st. 

At this time, and thereafter, the Romans held on their course of 
war and conquest, till four hundred and ten years after Christ ; — 
amounting in all, from their beginning till Rome was taken and 
plundered by Alaric, king of the Visigoths, to one thousand one 
hundred and sixty-three years. 

Is it to be supposed the Romans, a warlike, enlightened, and 
enterprising people, who had found their way by sea so far north 
from Rome as to the island of Britain, and actually sailed all round 
it, would not explore farther north and west, especially as they had 
some hundred years opportunity, while in possession of the north 
of Europe? 

Morse, the geographer, in his second volume, page 126, says, — 
Ireland, which is situated west of England, was probably discover- 
ed by the Phoenicians ; the era of whose voyages and maritime 
exploits commenced more than fourteen hundred years before 
Christ, and continued several ages. Their country was situated 
at the east end of the Mediterranean sea ; so*that a voyage to the 
Atlantic, through the Strait of Gibralter west, would be a dis- 
tance of about 2,300 miles, and from Gibralter to Ireland, a voy- 
age of about 1,400 miles ; which, in the whole amount, is nearly 
four thousand. 

Ireland is farther north, by about five degrees, than Newfound- 
land, and the latter only about 1,800 miles southwest from Ireland - r 
so that while the Phoenicians were coasting and voyaging about in 
the Atlantic, in so high a northern latitude as Ireland and England, 
may well be supposed to have discovered Newfoundland, (either 
by being lost or driven there by storm,) which is very near the 
coast of America. Phoenician letters are said to be engraven on 
some rocks on Taunton river, near the sea, in Massachusetts ; if so, 
this is proof of the position. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST.* 49 

Some hundreds of years after the first historical notice of the 
Phoenician voyages, and two hundred years before the birth of • 
Christ, the Greeks, it is said, became acquainted with Ireland, and 
was known among them by the name of Juverna. Ptolemy, the 
Egyptian geographer, who flourished about an hundred years after 
Christ, has given a map of that island, which is said to be very 
correct. — Morse. 

Here, we have satisfactory historical evidence, that Ireland, as 
well, of course, as all the coast of northern Europe, with the very 
islands adjacent, were known — first to the Phoenicians — second, to 
the Greeks — third to the Romans — and fourth, to the Egyptians — ■ 
in those early ages, from which arises a great probability that Amer- 
ica may have been well known to the ancient nations of the old 
world. On which account, when the Romans had extended their 
conquests so far north as nearly to old Norway, in latitude 60 deg. 
over the greater part of Europe — they were well prepared to ex- 
plore the North Atlantic, in a western direction, in quest of new 
countries ; having already sufficient data to believe western coun- 
tries existed. 

It is not impossible, the Danes, Norwegians, and Welsh, may 
have at first obtained some knowledge of western lands, islands and 
territories, from the discoveries of the Romans, or from their opin- 
ions, and handed down the story, till the Scandinavians or Norwe- 
gians discovered Iceland, Greenland, and America, many hundred * 
years before the time of Columbus. 

But, however this may be, it is certain those nations of the north 
of Europe, did visit this countr}-, as we have promised to show in 
its proper place. Would Columbus have made his attempt, if he 
had not believed, or conjectured, there was a western continent; 
or by some means obtained hints respecting it, or the probability of 
its existence ? It is said, Columbus found, at a certain time, the 
corpse of two men, of a tawny complexion, floating in the sea, 
near the coast of Spain, which he knew w 7 ere not of European ori- 
gin ; but had been driven by the sea from some unknown western 
country ; also timber and branches of trees, all'of which confirmed 
him in his opinion of the existence of other countries westward. 

If the Romans may have found this country, they may also have 
attempted its colonization, as the immense square forts of the west, 
would seem to suggest. 

7 



5$ AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

In 1821, on the bank of the river Despeies, in Missouri, was 
• found, by an Indian, a Roman coin, and presented to Gov. Clarke. 
- — Gazetteer of Missouri, p. 312. 

This is no more singular than the discovery of a Persian coin 
near a spring on the Ohio, some feet under ground ; as we have 
shown in another place of this work ; all of which go to encourage 
the conjecture respecting the presence of the ancient Romans in 
America. 

The remains of former dwellings, found along the Ohio, where 
the stream has, in many places, washed away its banks, hearths and 
fireplaces are brought to light, from two to six feet deep below the 
surface. 

Near these remains are found immense quantities of muscle shells 
and bones of animals. From the depths of many of these rem- 
nants of chimnies, and from the fact that trees as large as any in the 
surrounding forest, were found growing on the ground above those 
fire places, at the time the country was first settled by its present 
inhabitants, the conclusion is drawn, that a very long period has 
elapsed since these subterraneous remnants of the dwellings of man 
were deserted. 

Hearths and Fire Places : Are not these evidences that build- 
ings once towered above them ; if not such as now accommodate 
the millions of America, yet they may have been such as the an- 
i cient Britons used at the time the Romans first invaded their 
country. 

These were formed of logs set up endwise, drawn in at the top, 
so that the smoke might pass up at an aperture left open at the 
summit. They were not square on the ground, as houses are now 
built, but set in a circle, one log against the other, with the hearth 
zxAfire place in the centre. At the opening in the top, where the 
smoke went out, the light came in, as no other window w r as then 
used. There are still remaining, in several parts of England, the 
vestiges of large stone buildings made in this way, i. e. in a circle. 
—t-Blahh Hist, of England, p. 8. 

At Cincinnati there are two Museums, one of which contains a 
great variety of western antiquities, many skulls of Indians, and 
more than an hundred remains of what has been dug out of the 
aboriginal mounds. The most strange and curious of all, is a cup, 
made of clay, with three faces on the sides of the cup, each present- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 51 

iiig regular features of a man, and beautifully delineated. It is the 
•same represented on the plate. See letter E. 

A great deal has been said, and not a little written, by antiqua- 
rians about this cup. It was found in one of those ^mysterious 
mounds, and is known by the name of the triune cup ; and there 
are those who think the makers of it had an allusion to the Trinity 
of the Godhead. Hence its name, " Triune cup." 

In this neighborhood, the Yellow Springs, a day's ride below 
Cincinnati, stands one of those singular mounds. Whenever we 
view those most singular objects of curiosity and remains of art, a 
thousand inquiries spring up in the mind. They have excited the 
wonder of all who have seen or heard of them. Who were those 
ancients of the west, and when, and for lohat purpose, these mounds 
were constructed, are questions of the most interesting nature, and 
have engaged the researches of the most inquisitive antiquarians. 
Abundant evidence, however, can be procured, that they are not of 
Indian origin. 

With this sentiment there is a general acquiescence ; however 
we think it proper, in this place, to quote Dr. Beck's remarks on 
this point, from bis Gazetteer of the States of Illinois and Missouri. 
See page 308. " Ancient works exist on this river, the Arkansas, 
as elsewhere. The remains of mounds and fortifications are almost 
every where to be seen. One of the largest mounds in this coun- 
try has been thrown up on this stream, (the Wabash,) within the 
last- thirty or forty years, by the Osages, near the great Osage vil- 
lage, in honor of one of their deceased chiefs. This fact proves 
conclusively the original object of these mounds, and refutes the 
theory that they must necessarily have been erected by a race of 
men more civilized than the present tribes of Indians. Were it 
necessary, (says Dr. Beck,) numerous other facts might be adduced 
to prove that the mounds are no other than the tombs of their great 
men. 

That this is one of their uses, there is no doubt, but not their ex- 
clusive use. The vast height of some of them, which is more than 
an hundred feet, would seem to point them out as places of look- 
out, which if the country, in the days when their builders flourish- 
ed, was cleared and cultivated, woulB overlook the country to a 
great distance; and if it were not, still their towering summits, 
would surmount even the interference of the forests. 



52 „ . AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES" 

Bat although the Osage Indians have so recently thrown up one 
such mound, yet it does not prove them to be of American Indian 
origin ; and as this is an isolated case, would rather argue that the 
Osage tribe have originally descended from their more ancient pro- 
genitors, the inhabitants of this country, prior to the intrusions of 
the late Indians from Asia. 

Before we close this work, we shall attempt to make this appear 
from their own traditions, which have of late been procured from 
the most ancient of their tribes, the Wyandots, as handed down for 
hundreds of years, and from other sources. 

The very form and character which Dr. Beck has given the 
Osage Indians, argues them of a superior stock, or rather a different 
race of men, as follows : " In person, the Osages are among the 
largest and best formed Indians, and are said to possess fine military 
capacities ; but residing, as they do, in villages, and having made 
considerable advances in agriculture, they seem less addicted to war 
than their northern neighbors." 

The whole of this character given of the Osage Indians, their 
military taste, their agricultural genius, their noble and command- 
ing forms of person, and being less " addicted to war," shows them, 
it would seem, exclusively of other origin than that of the com- 
mon Indians. 

It is supposed, the inhabitants who found their way first to this 
country, after its division, in the days of Pei g, and were here long 
before the modern Indians, came not by the way of Bhering's Strait 
from Kamskatka, in Asia, but directly from China, across the Pa- 
cific, to the western coast of America, by means of islands which 
abounded anciently in that ocean between Chinese Tar^ary, China, 
and South America, even more ihan at present, which are, how- 
ever, now very numerous ; and also by the means of boats, of which 
all mankind have always had a knowledge. In this way, without 
any difficulty, more than is common, they could have found their 
way to this, as mankind have to ei r ery part of the earth. 

We do not recollect that any of those peculiar monuments of an- 
tiquity appear north of the United States ; Mackenzie, in his over- 
land journey to the Pacific, travelling northwest from Montreal in 
Canada, does not mention a single vestige of the kind, nor does 
Carver. If, then, there are none of these peculiar kinds, such as 
mounds and forts, farther north than about the latitude of the Cana- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 53 

das, it would appear from this, that the first authors of these works, 
especially of the mounds and tumuli, migrated, not from Asia, by 
way of Bhering's Strait, but from Europe, east — China, west — 
and from Africa, south — continents now separated, then touching 
each other, with islands innumerable between, affording the means. 

If this supposition, namely, that the continents in the first age, 
immediately after the flood, were united, or closely connected by 
groups of islands, is not allowed, how then, it might be inquired, 
came every island, yet discovered, of any size, having the natural 
means of human subsistence, in either of the seas, to be found in- 
habited ? 

In the very way this can be answered., the question relative to 
the means by which South America was first peopled, can also be 
answered, namely ; the continents, as intimated on the first pages 
of this work, as quoted from E)r. Clarke, were, at first, that is, im- 
mediately after the flood, till the division of the earth, in the days 
of Peleg, connected together, so that mankind, with all kinds of 
animals, might pass to every quarter of the globe, suited to their na- 
tures. If such were not the fact, it might be inquired, how then 
"did the several kinds of animals get to every part of the earth from 
the ark ? They could not, as man, make use of the boat, or ves- 
sel, nor could they swim such distances. 

From Dr. Clarke's Travel's, it appears, ancient works exist to 
this day, in some parts of Asia, similar to those of North America. 
His description of them, reads as though he were contemplating 
some of these western mounds. The Russians call these sepul- 
chres logri ; and vast numbers of them have been discovered in Si- 
beria and the deserts bordering on the empire to the south. His- 
torians mention these tumuli, with many particulars. In them were 
found vessels, ornaments, trinkets, medals, arrows, and other ar- 
ticles ; some of copper, and even gold and silver, mingled with the 
ashes and remains of dead bodies. 

When, and by whom, these burying places of Siberia and Tar- 
tary, more ancient than the Tartars themselves, were used, is ex- 
ceedingly interesting. The situation, construction, appearance, and 
general contents of these Asiatic tumuli, and the American mounds, 
are, however, so nearly alike, that there can be no hesitation in 
ascribing them to the same races, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and 
America ; and also to the same ages of time, or nearly so, which 



54 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

we suppose, was very soon after the flood ; a knowledge of mound 
building was then among men, as we see in the authors of Babel. 
" The Triune Cup (see plate — letter E.) deposited in one of 
the museums at Cincinnati, affords some probable evidence, that a 
part, at least, of the great mass of human population, once inhabit- 
ing the Valley of the Mississippi, were of Hindo origin. It is 
an earthen vessel, perfectly round, and will hold a quart, having 
three distinct faces, or heads, joined together at the back part of 
each, by a handle. 

The faces of these figures strongly resemble the Hindo counte- 
nance, which is here well executed. Now, it is well known, that 
in the mythology of India, three chief gods constitute the acknow- 
ledged belief of that people, named Brahma, Vishnoo, and Siva. 
May not this cup be a symbolical representation of that belief, and 
may it not have been used for some* sacred purpose, here, in the 
Valley of the Mississippi ? 

In this country, as in Asia, the mounds are seen at the junction 
of many of the rivers, as along the Mississippi, on the most eligible 
positions for towns, and in the richest lands ; and the day may have 
been, when those great rivers, the Mississippi, the Ohio, the Illi- 
nois, and the Muskingum, beheld along their sacred banks, count- 
less devotees assembled for religious rites, such as now crowd in 
superstitious ceremonies, the devoted and consecrated borders of the 
Indus, the Ganges, and the Burrampooter, rivers of the Indies. 

Mounds in the west are very numerous, amounting to several 
thousands, none less than ten feet high, and some over one hun- 
dred. One opposite St. Louis measures eight hundred yards in 
circumference at its base, which is fifty rods. 

Sometimes they stand in groups, and with their circular shapes, 
at a distance, look like enormous hay staeks, scattered through a 
meadow. From their great number, and occasional stupendous 
size, years and the labors of tens of thousands must have been re- 
quired to finish them. 

Were it not, indeed, for their contents, and design manifested in 
their erection, they would hardly be looked upon as the work of 
human hands. In this view, they strike the traveller with the 
same astonishment as would be felt while beholding those oldest 
monuments of wordly art and industry, the-Egyptian pyramids ; and 
like them, the mounds have their origin in the dark night of time, 
beyond even the history of Egypt itself. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 65 

Whether or not these mounds were used at some former period, as " high 
places " for purposes of religion, or fortifications, or for national burying places, 
each of which theories has found advocates, one inference, however, amidst all 
the gloom which surrounds them, remains certain : the Valley of the Ohio, was 
once inhabited by an immense agricultural population. 

We can see their vast funeral vaults, enter into their graves, and look at their 
dry bones ; but no passage of history tells then tale of life ; no spirit comes 
forth from their ancient sepulchres, to answer the inquiries of the living. 

It is worthy of remark, that Breckenridge, in his interesting travels through 
these regions, calculates that no less than five thousand villages of this forgot- 
ten people existed ; and that their largest city was situated between the Mis- 
sissippi and Missouri, not far from the junction of those rivers, near St. Louis. 
In this region, the mighty waters of the Missouri and Illinois, with their un- 
numbered tributaries, mingle with the "father of rivers," the Mississippi; 
(Mississippi, the word in the Indian language means Father of Rivers ;) a situ- 
ation formed by nature, calculated to invite multitudes. of men, from the good- 
ness of the soil, and the facilities of w T ater communications. 

The present race, who are now fast peopling the unbounded west, are ap- 
prised of the advantages of this region. Towns and cities are rising on the very 
ground where the ancient millions of mankind had their seats of empire. 

Ohio now contains more than six hundred thousand inhabitants ; but at that 
early day, the same extent of country, most probably, was filled with a far 
greater population than inhabits it at the present time. 

Many of the mounds are completely occupied with human skeletons, and 
millions of them must have been interred in these vast cemeteries, that can be 
traced from the Rocky Mountains, on the west, to the Alleghenies on the east, 
and into the province of the Texas and New Mexico on the south : revolutions 
like those known in the old world may have taken place here, and armies, 
equal to those of Cyrus, of Alexander the Great, or of Tamerlene the powerful., 
might have flourished their trumpets, and marched to battle, over these exten- 
sive plains, filled with the probable descendants of that same race in Asia. 
whom these proud conquerors vanquished there. 



COURSE OF THE TEN LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL. 

There is a strong resemblance between the northern and inde- 
pendent Tartar, and the tribes of the North American Indians, but 
not of the South American. Besides this reason, there are others 
for believing our aborigines of North America were descended from 
the ancient Scythians, and came to this country from the eastern 
part of Asia. 



56 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

This view by no means invalidates the opinion, that many tribes 
of the Indians of North America, are descended of the Israelites, 
because the Scythians, under this particular name, existed long be- 
fore that branch of descendants of the family of Shem, called Is- 
raelites ; who, after they had been carried away by Salmanasser, 
the Assyrian king, about 700 years B. C.,went northward, as stated 
by Esdras, (see his second book, thirteenth chapter, from verse 40 
to verse 45, inclusive,) through a part of Independent Tartary. 
During this journey, which carried them among the Tartars, now so 
called, but were anciently the Scythians, and probably became 
amalgamated with them. This was the more easily effected, on 
account of the agreement of complexion and common origin. 

If this may be supposed, we perceive aTonce, how the North 
American Indians are in possession of both Scythian and Jewish 
practices. Their Scythian customs are as follows: "Scalping their 
prisoners, and torturing them to death. Some of the Indian nations 
also resemble the Tartars in the construction of their canoes, imple- 
ments of war, and of the chase, with the well known habit of 
marching in Indian file, and their treatment of the aged ;" these 
are Scythian customs. 

Their Jewish customs are too many to be enumerated in this 
work ; for a particular account of those customs, see Smith's View 
of the Hebrews. If, then, our Indians have evidently the manners 
of both the Scythian and the Jew, it proves them to have been, 
anciently, both Israelites and Scythians ; the latter being the more 
ancient name of the nations now called Tartars,* with whom the 
ten tribes may have amalgamated. That the Israelites, cajled the 
ten tribes, who were carried away from Judea by Salmanasser, to 
the land of Assyria, went from that country, in a northerly direction, 
as quoted from Esdras, above, is evident, from the Map of Asia. 
Look at Esdras again, 43d verse, chap. 13, and we shall perceive, 
they tC entered into the Euphrates by the narrow passes or heads of 
that river," which runs from the north into the Persian Gulf. 

It is not probable, that the country which Esdras called Arsareth, 
could possibly be America, as many have supposed, because a vast 
company, such as the ten tribes were at the time they left Syria, 

*The appellation of Tartar was not known till the year A. D. 1227, who 
were at that time, considered a new race of barbarians Morse. 



AND discoveries in the west. 57 

^ which was about an hundred years after their having been carried 
away from Judea, nearly 3000 years ago,) could travel fast enough 
to perform the journey in so short a time as a year and a half. 

We learn from the map of Asia, that Syria was situated at the 
southeasterly end of the Mediterranean Sea, and that in entering 
into the narrow passes of the Euphrates, as Esdras says, would lead 
them north of Mount Ararat, and southeasterly of the Black Sea, 
through Georgia, over the Concassian mountains, and so on to As- 
tracan, which lies north of the Caspian Sea. We may, with the 
utmost show of reason, be 'permitted to argue, that this vast con> 
pany of men, women, and their little ones, would naturally be com- 
pelled to shape their course so as to avoid the deep rivers w T hich 
it cannot well be supposed they had the means of crossing, except 
when frozen. Their course would then be along the heads of the 
several rivers running north after they had passed the country of 
Astracan. From thence over the Ural mountains, or that part of 
that chain running along Independent Tartary. Then, after having 
passed over this mountain near the northern boundary of Indepen- 
dent Tartary, they would find themselves at the foot of the little 
Altain mountains, which course w T ould lead them, if they still wished 
to avoid deep and rapid rivers, running from the little Altain moun- 
tains northward, or north-westerly, into the Northern Ocean, across 
the immense and frozen regions of Siberia. The names of those 
rivers beginning on the easterly side of the Ural mountains, are 
first, the river Obi, with its many heads, or little rivers, forming 
at length the river Obi, which empties into the Northern Ocean, at 
the Gulf of Obi, in latitude of about 67 degs. north. 

The second, is the river Yenisei, with its many heads, havino- 
their sources in the same chain of mountains, and runs into the 
same ocean, further north, towards Bhermg's Straits, which is the 
point we are approximating, by pursuing this course. 

A third river, with its many heads, that rises at the base of anoth- 
er chain of mountains, called the Yablonoy ; this is the river Lena. 
There are several other rivers arising out of another chain of 
mountains, farther on northward towards Bhering's Straits, which 
have no name on the map of Asia ; this range of mountains is cal- 
led the St. Anovoya mountains, and comes to a point or end, at the 

8 



58 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Strait which separates Asia from America, which is but a small 
distance across, of about forty miles only, and several islands be- 
tween. 

Allowing the ten tribes, or if they may have become amalgama- 
ted with the Tartars as they passed on this tremendous journey 
toward the Northern Ocean, to have pursued this course, the dis- 
tance will appear from Asyria to the Straits, to be some hundreds 
over six thousand miles. Six thousand two hundred and fifty-five 
miles, which is the distance, is more, by nearly one-half, than such 
a vast body, in moving on together, could possibly perform in a year 
and a half. Six miles a day would be as great a distance, as such 
an host could perform, where there is no way but that of forests 
untraced by man, and obstructed by swamps, mountains, fallen 
trees, and thousands of nameless hindrances. Food must be had, 
and the only way of procuring it, must have been by hunting with 
the bow and arrow, and by fishing. The sick must not be forsaken, 
the aged and the infant must be cherished ; all these things would 
delay, so that a rapid progress cannot be admitted. 

If, then, six miles a day is a reasonable distance to suppose they 
may have progressed, it follows that nearly three years, instead of a 
year and a half, would not have been more than sufficient to carry 
them from Syria to Bhering's Straits, through a region almost of 
eternal snow. 

This, therefore, cannot have been the course of the Ten Tribes 
to the land of Arsareth, wherever it was : and that it was north 
from Syria, we ascertain by Esdras, who says, they went into the 
narrow passes of the Euphrates, which means its three heads, or 
branches, which arise north from Syria. From the head waters of 
this river, there is no way to pass on, but to go between the Black 
and Caspian Seas, over the Concassian mountains, as before stated. 

From this point they may have gone on to what is now called 
Astracan, as before rehearsed ; but here we suppose they may have 
taken a west instead of a north direction, which would have been 
toward that part of Russia]] which is now called Russia in Europe, 
and would have led them on between the rivers Don and Volga ; 
the Don emptying into the Black Sea, and the Volga into the Cas- 
pian. 

This course would have led them exactly to the places where 
Moscow and Petersburgh now stand, and from thence in a north- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 59 

westerly direction, along the south end of the White Sea, to Lap- 
land, Norway ', and Siueden, which lie along on the coast of the North 
Atlantic Ocean. 

Now, the distance from Syria to Lapland, Norway, and Sweden, 
on the coast of the Atlantic, is scarcely three thousand miles ; a dis- 
tance which may have easily been travelled in a year and a half, 
at six miles a day, and the same opportunity have been afforded for 
their amalgamation with Scythians or Tartars, as in the other course 
towards Bhering's Strait. Norway, Sweden, and Lapland, may 
have been the land of Arsareth. 

But here arises a question ; how then did they get into America 
from Lapland and Norway ? The only answer is, America and 
Europe must have been at that time united by land, or they may 
have built boats. 

" The manner by which the original inhabitants and animals 
reached here, is easily explained, by adopting the supposition, which 
doubtless is the most correct, that the north-western and western 
limits of America were, at some former period, united to Asia on 
the west, and to Europe on the east. 

This was partly the opinion of Buffon and other great naturalists. 
That connection has, therefore, been destroyed, among other great 
changes this earth has evidently experienced since the flood. 

We have examples of these revolutions before our eyes. Florida 
has gained leagues of land from the Gulf of Mexico ; and part of 
Louisiana, in the Mississippi Valley, has been formed by the mud 
of rivers. Since the Falls of Niagara were first discovered, they 
haye receded very considerably ; and it is conjectured, that this 
sublimest of nature's curiosities was situated originally where 
Queenstown now stands. 

Sicily was united formerly to the continent of Europe, and an- 
cient authors affirm, that the Straits of Gibralter, which divide be- 
tween Europe and Africa, were formed by a violent irruption of 
the ocean upon the land. Ceylon, where our missionaries have an 
establishment, has lost forty leagues by the sea, which is an hun- 
dred and twenty miles." 

Many such instances occur in history. Pliny tells us, that in his 
own time, the Mountain Cymbotus with the town of Eurites, which 
stood on its side, were totally swallowed up. He records the like 
of the city Tantelis in Magnesia, and of the mountain Sopelus, 



60 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

both absorbed by a violent opening of the earth, so that no trace of 
either remained. Galanis and Garnatus, towns once famous in 
Phoenicia, are recorded to have met the same fate. The vast pro- 
montory, called Phlegium in Ethiopia, after a violent earthquake 
in the night, was not to be seen in the morning, the earth having 
swallowed it up and closed over it. 

Like instances we have of later date. The mountain Picus, in 
one of the Moluccas, was so high 3 that it appeared at a vast dis- 
tance 3 and served as a landmark to sailors. But during an earth- 
quake in the isle, the mountain in an instant sunk into the bowels 
of the earth, and no token of it remained, but a lake of water 
The like happened in the mountainous parts of China, in 1556 
when a whole province, with all its towns, cities, and inhabitants, 
was absorbed in a moment ; an immense lake of water remaining 
in its place, even to this day. 

In they year 1646, during a terrible earthquake in the kingdom 
of Chili, several whole mountains of the Andes, one after another^ 
were wholly absorbed in the earth. Probably many lakes over the 
whole earth, have been occasioned in this way. Lake Ontario is 
supposed to have been formed in this way. 

The greatest earthquake we find in antiquity, is that mentioned 
by Pliny, in which twelve cities in Asia Minor w r ere swallowed up 
in one night. But one of those most particularly described in his- 
tory, is that of the year 1693. It extended to a circumference of 
two thousand six hundred leagues, chiefly affecting the sea coasts 
and great rivers. Its motions were so rapid, that those who lay at 
their length were tossed from side to side as upon a rolling billow 
The walls were dashed from their foundations, and no less than 
fifty-four cities, with an incredible number of villages, were either 
destroyed or greatly damaged. The city of Catanea, in particular, 
was utterly overthrown. A traveller, who was on his way thither, 
at the distance of some miles, perceived a black cloud hanging near 
the place. The sea all of a sudden began to roar : Mount iEtna to 
send forth great spires of flames ; and soon after, a shock ensued, 
with a noise as if all the artillery in the world had been at once 
discharged. Although the shock did not continue above three min- 
utes, yet near nineteen thousand of the inhabitants of Sicily per- 
ished in the ruins. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST, 6] 

We have said above, that Norway, Lapland, and Sweden may 
liave been the very land called the land of x\rsareth, by Esdras, in 
his second book, chapter 13, who may, with the utmost ceTtainty,be 
supposed to know the very course and place where these Ten Tribes 
went to, being himself a Jew and an historian, who at the present 
day is quoted by the first authors of the age. 

We have also said, it should be considered impossible for the Ten 
Tribes, after having left the place of their captivity, at the east end 
of the Mediterranean Sea, which was the Syrian country, for them 
to have gone in a year and a half to Bhering's Strait, through the 
frozen wilderness of Siberia. 

In going away from Syria, they cannot be supposed to have had 
any place in view, only they had conferred among themselves that, 
as Esdras says, " that they would leave the multitude of the hea- 
then, and go forth into a country where never mankind dwelt ;" 
which Esdras called the land of Arsareth. 

Now, it is not to be supposed, a land, or country, where no man 
dwelt could have a name, especially in that early age of the world, 
which was about seven hundred years before the Christian era ; but 
on that very account we may suppose the word Arsareth, to be de- 
scriptive only of a vast wilderness country, where no man dwelt, 
and is probably a Persian word of that signification, for Syria was 
embraced within the Persian empire ; the Israelites may have, in 
part, lost their original language, having been there in a state of 
captivity for more than an hundred years before they left that 
country. 

Esdras says, that Arsareth was a land where no man dwelt; this 
statement is somewhat corroborated by the fact, that the country 
which we have supposed was Arsareth, namely Norway, &c, was 
anciently unknown to mankind. On this point, see Morse's Geo- 
graphy, 2d vol. p. 28 : " Norway ; a region almost as unknown to 
the ancients as was America." But, in this he is mistaken, as will 
appear by and by, in the course of this work. America was known 
to the ancients. 

Its almost insular situation ; having on the west the Atlantic 
Ocean, on the south end the North Sea, and on the east the Baltic 
and the Gulf of Bothnia— these waters almost surrounding it ; there 
?3eing a'narrow connexion of land with the European continent only 
on the north, between the Gulf of Bothnia and the White Sea, 



62 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

which is Lapland, and was a reason quite sufficient why the an- 
cients should have had no knowledge of that region of country 
which we have supposed to have been the country called by Esdras, 
the land of Arsareth. 

Naturalists, as before remarked, have supposed that America was 
at some remote period before the Christian era, united to the con- 
tinent of Europe ; and that some convulsion in nature, such as 
earthquakes, volcanoes, or the irruptions of the ocean, has shaken 
and overwhelmed a whole region of earth, lying between Norway 
and Baffin's Bay, of which Greenland and Iceland, with many 
other islands, are the remains. 

But suppose the American and European continents, 700 years 
before the Christian era were not united ; how then did such part 
of the Ten Tribes as may have wandered to that region from Sy- 
ria, get into America from Norway ? The answer is easy : They 
may have crossed over, from island to island, in vessels or boats, 
for a knowledge of navigation, and that of the ocean too, was known 
to the Ten Tribes ; for all the Jews and civilized nations of that 
age were acquainted with this art, derived from the Egyptains. 

But it may be said, there are no traces that Jews were ever 
residents of Norway, Lapland, or Scandinavia. From the particu- 
lar shape of Norway, being surrounded by the waters of the sea, 
except between the Girf of Bothnia, and the White Sea, we per- 
ceive that the first people, whoever they were, must have approach- 
ed it by the narrow pnss between those two bodies of water of 
only about forty-five miles in width, if they would go there by land. 

Consequently the place now designated by the name of Lapland, 
which is the northern end of Norway, was first peopled before the 
more southern parts. An inquiry, therefore, whether the ancient 
people of Lapland had any customs like those of the ancient Jews, 
would be pertinent to our hypothesis respecting the route of the 
Ten Tribes, as spoke.i of by Esdras. Morse, the geographer, says, 
that of the original papulation, of Lapland very little is known with 
certainty. Some wi iters have supposed them to be a colony of 
Fins from Russia ; ( thers have thought that they bore a stronger 
resemblance to the £ inoeids of Asia. Their language, however, is 
said by Leems, to Lave less similitude to the Finnish, than the 
Danish to the/ Germs i ; and to be totally unlike any of the dialects 
of the Teutonic, or ancestors of the ancient Germans ; but accord- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 63 

ing to Leems, as quoted by Morse, in their language are found 
many Hebrew words 3 also Greek and Latin. 

Hebrew words are found among the American Indians in consid- 
erable variety. But how came Greek and Latin words to be in the 
composition of the Laponic language ? 

This is easily answered, if we supposed them to be derived from 
the Ten Tribes ; as at the time they left Syria, the Greek and 
Latin were languages spoken every where in that region, as well 
as the Syrian and Chaldean. And on this v±ry account, it is likely, 
the Ten Tribes had in part lost their ancient language as it was 
spoken at Jerusalem, when Salmanasser carried them away. So 
that by the time they left Syria, and the region thereabouts, to go 
to Arsareth, their language had become, fro a this sort of mixture, 
an entire new language, as they had been enslaved about an hun- 
dred years. 

So that allowing the ancient Laplanders derived their tongue 
from a part of these Ten wandering Tribes, it well might be said 
by Leems, as quoted by Morse, that the language of Lapland, com* 
monly called the Laponic, had no words in common with the Gothic 
or Teutonic, except a few Norwegian words, evidently foreign, and 
unassociated with any of the languages of isia or Europe ; these 
being of the Teutonic or German origin, which goes back to with* 
in five hundred years of the flood, several centuries before the Ten 
Tribes were carried away by Salmanasser. 

This view would seem to favor oiir hypothesis. We shall now 
show a few particulars respecting their religious notions, which 
seem to have, in some respects, a resemblance to those of the Jews. 
Their deities were of four kinds. First : * Super-celestial, named 
as follow : Radien, Atzihe, and Kiedde, the Creator. Radien 
and Atzihe, they considered the fountain of power, and Kiedde or 
Radien Kiedde, the Son, or Creator; these were their Supreme gods, 
and would seem to be borrowed from the Jewsih doctrine of the 
Trinity. 

Second : Celestial Deities, called Beiwe, the sun, or as other an- 
cient nations had it, Apollo, which is the same, and Ailekies, to 
whom Saturday was consecrated. May rot these two powers be 
considered as the shadows of the different orders of angels as held 
by the Jews ? 

Third : Sub-celestial, or in the air, and on the earth : Moderak- 



64 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

ka, or the Lapland Lucina ; Saderakka, or Venus, to whom Fri- 
day was holy ; and Juks Akka, or the Nurse. These are of hea- 
then origin, derived from the nations among whom they had been 
slaves and wanderers, the Syrians. 

Fourth : Subterranean Deities, as Saiwo and Saiwo-Olmak, gods 
of the mountains ; Saiwo-Guelle, or their Mercury, who conducted 
the shades, or wicked souls, to the lower regions. 

This idea would seem to be equivalent with the doctrine found 
in both the Jewish and Christian religions, namely, that Satan con- 
ducts or receives the souls of the wicked to his hell in the subter- 
ranean fire of the earth. 

They have another deity, belonging to the fourth order, and 
him they call Jabme-Akko, or he who occupied their Elisium ; in 
which the soul was furnished with a new body, and nobler priv- 
ileges and powers, and entitled, at some future day, to enjoy the 
right of Radien, the fountain of power, and to dwell with him for- 
ever in the mansions of bliss. 

This last sentiment is certainly equivalent to the Jewish idea of 
heaven and eternal happiness in Abraham's bosom. It also, under 
the idea of a new body, shows a relation to the Jewish and Chris- 
tian doctrine of the resurrection of the body at the last day ; and is 
indeed wonderful. 

Fifth : An Infernal Deity, called Rota, who occupied and reign- 
ed in Rota-Abimo, or the infernal regions ; the occupants of which 
had no hopes of an escape. ' He, together with his subordinates, 
Fudno, Mubber, and Paha-Engel, were all considered as evil dis- 
posed towards mankind. 

This is too plain not to be applied to the Bible doctrine of one 
supreme devil and his angels, who are, sure enough, evil disposed 
towards mankind. 

Added to all this, the Laplanders were found in the practice of 
sacrificing to all their deities, the reindeer, the sheep, and some- 
times the seal, pouring libations of milk, whey, and brandy, with 
offerings of cheese, &c 

This last item of their religious manners, is too striking not to 
claim its derivation from the ancient Jewish worship. The Lap- 
landers are a people but few in number, not much exceeding twelve 
hundred families ; which we imagine is a circumstance favoring 
our idea, that after they had remained a while in Arsareth, or Lap- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 65 

.and and Norway, which is much the same thing, that their main 
body may have passed over into America, either in boats, from 
island to island ; or, if there then was, as is supposed, an isthmus of 
land, connecting the continents, they passed over on that, leaving, 
as is natural, in case of such a migration, some individuals or fami- 
lies behind, who might not wish to accompany them, from whom 
the present race of Laplanders may be derived. Their dress is 
much the same with that of our Indians ; their complexion is swar- 
thy, hair black, large heads, high cheek bones, with wide mouths; 
all of which is strikingly national. They call themselves Same, 
their speech Same-giel, and their country Same-Edna. This last 
w r ord sounds very much like the word Eden, and may be, inasmuch 
as it is the name of their country, borrowed from the name of the 
region where Adam was created. 

When men emigrate from one region of the earth to another, 
which is very, distant, and especially if the country to which they 
emigrate is a new one, or in a state of nature, it is perfectly natural 
to give it the same name or names which distinguished the country 
and its parts, from which they emigrated. 

Edessa, was the name of an ancient city of Mesopotamia, which 
was situated in the country, or land of Assyria, between the rivers 
Euphrates and Tigris. In this region the Ten Tribes were held 
in bondage, who had been carried away by Salmanasser, the Assy- 
rian monarch. We are, therefore, the more confirmed in this con- 
jecture, from the similarity existing between the two names Edna 
and Edessa, both derived, it is likely, from the more ancient word 
Eden, which, from common consent, had its situation, before the 
deluge, not far from this same region where Turkey is now, be- 
tween the Mediterranean, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, and the Persian 
Gulf, as before argued. 

If such may have been the fact, that a part of the Ten Tribes 
came over to America, in the way we have supposed, leaving the 
cold regions of Arsareth behind them, in quest of a milder climate, 
it would be natural to look for tokens of the presence of Jews of 
some sort, along countries adjacent to the Atlautic. In order to 
this, we shall here make an extract from an able work, written ex- 
clusively on the subject of the Ten Tribes having come from Asia 
by the way of Bhering's Strait, by the Rev. Ethan Smith, Pultney, 
Vt, who relates as follows: "Joseph Merrick, Esq., a highly re- 

9 



65 AMEEICAN ANTIQUITIES 

spectable character in the church at Pittsfield, gave the following 
account : That in 1815, he was levelling some ground under and 
near an old wood shed > standing on a place of his, situated on Indian 
HiU. 

He ploughed and conveyed away old chips and earth to some 
depth. After the work was done, walking over the place, he dis- 
covered, near where the earth had been dug the deepest, a black 
strap, as it appeared, about six inches in length, and one and an half 
in breadth, and about the thickness of a leather trace to a harness* 

He perceived it had at each end a loop of some hard substance, 
probably for the purpose of carrying it. He conveyed it to his 
house, and threw it into an old tool box. He afterwards found it 
thrown out of doors, and he again conveyed it to the box. After 
some time, he thought he would examine it ; but in attempting to 
cut it, found it as hard as bone ; he succeeded, however, in getting 
it open, and found it was formed of two pieces of thick raw-hide* 
sewed and made water tight, with the sinews of some animal ; and 
in the fold was contained four folded pieces of parchment. They 
were of a dark yellow hue, and contained some kind of writing. 
The neighbors coming in to see the strange discovery, tore one of 
the pieces to atoms, in the true Hun and Vandal style. The other 
three pieces Mr. Merrick saved, and sent them to Cambridge, — 
where they were examined, and discovered to have been written 
with a pen in Hebrew , plain and legible. 

The writing on the three remaining pieces of parchment, was 
quotations from the Old Testament. See Deut. vi. chap, from the 
4th to the 9th verse, inclusive — also, xi. chap. 13 — 21, inclusive — 
and Exodus, chap. xiii. 11—16, inclusive, to which the reader can 
refer, if he has the curiosity to read this most interesting discovery, 

These passages, as quoted above, were found in the strap of raw- 
hide ; which unquestionably had been written on the very pieces 
of parchment now in the possession of the Antiquarian Society, 
before Israel left the land of Syria, more than 2,500 years ago ; but 
it is not likely the raw-hide strap in which they were found en- 
closed, had been made a very great length of time. This would 
be unnatural, as a desire to look at the sacred characters, would be 
very great, although they could not read them. This however, was 
done at last, as it appears, and buried with some Chief, on the place 
where it was found, called Indian Hill 



UND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST* 6? 

Dr. West, of Stockbridge, relates, that an old Indian informed 
Ihim, that his fathers in this country, had, not long since, been in 
the possession of a book, which they had, for a long lime, carried 
with them, but having lost the knowledge of reading it, they buried 
it with an Indian chief. — View of the Hebrews, p. 223. 

It had been handed down from family to family, or from chief to 
chief, as a most precious relic, if not as an amulet, charm, or talis- 
man, for it is not to be supposed, that a distinct knowledge of what 
was contained in the strap could have long continued among them, 
in their wandering condition, amid woods and forests. 

* It is said by Calmet, that the above texts are the very passages 
of Scripture, which Jhe Jews used to write on the leaves of their 
phylacteries. These phylacteries were little rolls of parchment, 
whereon were written certain words of the law. These they wore 
upon their forehead, and upon the wrist of the left arm." — Smith's 
View of the Hebreivs, p. 220. 

This intimation of the presence of the Israelites in America, is 
too unequivocal tp be passed unnoticed ; and the circumstance of its 
being found so near the Atlantic coast, and at so vast a distance 
from Bhering's Straits, we are still inclined to suppose, that such of 
the Israelites as found their way to the shores of America, on the 
coast of the Atlantic, may have come from Lapland, or Norway; — 
seeing evident tokens exist of their having once been there, as we 
have noticed some few pages back. 

But there is a third supposition respecting the land of Arsareth ; 
which is, that it is situated exactly east from the region of Syria. 
ThisMs thought to be the country now known in Asia by the appel- 
lation of Little Bucharia. Its distance from Syria is something 
more than two thousand miles ; which, by Esdras, might very well 
be said to be a journey of a year and an half, through an entire 
wilderness. 

Bucharia, the region of country of which we are about to speak, 
us being the ancient resort of a part of the lost Ten Tribes, is in 
distance from England, 3,475 miles ; a little southeast from the 
latitude of London ; and from the State of New- York, exactly 
double that distance, 6,950 miles, on an air line, as measured on an 
artificial globe, and in nearly the same latitude, due east from this 
country. 

It is not impossible, after all our speculation, and the speculations 



68 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

of others, that, instead of America, or of Norway, this same Bucha- 
ria is, in truth, the ancient country of Arsareth; although in the. 
country of old Norway, and of America, are abundant evidence of 
the presence of Jews at some remote period, no doubt derived from 
this stock, the Ten Tribes. 

The country of Bucharia is situated due east from Syria, where 
the Ten Tribes were placed by Salmanasser, as well as farther east 
on the river Gozen, or Ganges, of Hindostan. The distance is 
about two thousand five hundred miles, and at that time, was a vast 
desert, lying beyond the settlements of men, in all probability ; and 
in order to go there, they must also pass through the narrow passes 
of the river Euphrates, or its heads, near the south end of the Cas- 
pian Sea, and then nearly due east, inclining, however, a little to 
the north. Two circumstances lead to a supposition that this Bu- 
charia is the Arsareth mentioned by Esdras. The first is, at this 
place is found a great population of the Jews : Second ; the word, 
Arsareth is similar to the names of other regions of that country in 
Asia ; as Ararat, Astracan, Samarcand, Yarkund, Aracan, Ala Tau, 
Alatanian, Aral, Altai,. Amu, Korassan, Balk, Bactriana, Bucharia, 
Argun, Narrat, Anderab Katlan: (this word is much like the Mex- 
ican names of places, as Aztalan, Copallan, and so on ;) Anderab, 
Aktau, AiJak. Names of countries and rivers might be greatly 
multiplied, which bear a strong affinity in sound and formation to 
the. word Arsareth, which is probably a Persian word, as well as 
the rest we have quoted, as from these regions, ancient Bucharia, 
the foundations of the Persian power was derived. 

The reader can choose between the three, whether America, 
Norway, or Bucharia, is the ancient country calkd Arsareth, as one 
of the three is, beyond a doubt, the place alluded to by Esdras, 
to which the Ten Tribes went ; and in all three, the traits of Jews 
are found. 

In this country, Bucharia, many thousand Jews have been dis- 
covered, who were not known by the Christian nations to have ex- 
isted at all till recently. It would appear from this circumstance, 
that the Ten Tribes may have divided, a part going east, to the 
country now called Bucharia ; and a part west, to the country now 
called Norway ; both of which, at that time, were the region of 
almost endless solitudes, and about equal distances from Syria: and 
from Bucharia to Bhering's Strait is also about the same distance. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 69 

In process of time, both from Bucharia in Asia, and Norway in 
Europe, the descendants from these Ten Tribes may have found 
their way into America. Those from Norway, by the way of 
islands, boats or continent, which may then have existed, between 
America and north of Europe ; and those from Buch; ria, by the 
way of Bhering's Strait, which, at that time, it is likely, was no 
Strait, but an isthmus, if not a country of great extent, uniting Asia 
with America. The account of the Bucharian Jews is as follows: 

" After haviDg seen, some years past, merchants from Tiflis, Per- 
sia, and Armenia, among the visitors at Leipsic, we ha.e had, for 
the first time, (1826,) two traders from Bucharia, with sh mis, which 
are there manufactured of the finest wool of the goats of Thibet and 
Cashmere, by the Jewish families, who form a third part / tlie pop- 
ulation. In Bucharia, (formerly the capitolof Sogdiana ) the Jews 
have been very numerous ever since the Babylonian captivity, and 
are there as remakable for their industry and manufacti res, as they 
are in England for their money transactions. It was not till 1S26, 
that the Russian government succeeded in extending its diplomatic 
mission far into Bucharia. The above traders exchanged their 
shawls for coarse and fine woollen cloths, of such colors as are most 
esteemed in the east." 

Much interest has been excited by the informatior which this 
paragraph conveys, and which is equally novel and important. In 
none of the geographical works which we have consulted do we 
find the least hint as to the existence in Bucharia of such a body of 
Jews as are here mentioned, amounting to one third of the whole 
population ; but as the fact can no longer be doubted, she next point 
of inquiry which presents itself is, whence have they proceeded, 
and how have they come to establish themselves in a region so re- 
mote from their original country ? This question, we think, can 
only be answered by supposing that these persons are the descend- 
ants of the long lest Ten Tribes, concerning the facts of which, 
theologians, historians, and antiquarians, have been j> like puzzled : 
and however wild this hypothesis may at first appear, there are not 
wanting cireu Distances to render it far from being improbable. In 
the 17th chapter of the second book of Kings, it is said, u In the 
ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and car- 
ried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Helah and in 
Haber by the river Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes :" and 



70 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

in the subsequent verses, as well as the writings of the prophets, it 
is said, that the Lord then u put away Israel out of his sight, and 
carried them away into the land of Assyria unto this day." In the 
Apocrypha, 2d Esdras, xiii., it is said, that the Ten Tribes were 
carried beyond the river, (Euphrates,) and so they were brought 
into another land, when they took counsel together, that they would 
leave the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into a further coun- 
try, where never mankind dwelt ; that they entered in at the nar- 
row passages of the river Euphrates, when the springs of the flood 
were stayed, and " went through the country a great journey, even 
a year and a half;" and it is added, that " there will they remain, 
until the latter time, when they will come forth again." The coun- 
try beyond Bucharia was unknown to the ancients, and it is, we 
believe, generally admitted, that the river Gozan, mentioned in the 
book of Kings, is the same as the Ganges, which has its rise in 
those very countries in which the Jews reside, of which the Liep- 
sic account speaks. The distance which these two merchants must 
have travelled, cannot, therefore, be less than three thousand miles ; 
and there can be but little doubt that the Jews, whom they repre- 
sent as a third part of the population of the country, are descend- 
ants of the Ten Tribes of Israel settled by the river Gozan. 

The great plain of Central Asia, forming four principal sides, viz : 
Little Bucharia, Thibet, Mongolia, and Mantehous, contains a sur- 
face of 150,000 square miles, and a population of 20,000,000. 
This vast country is still very little known. The great traits of 
its gigantic formation compose, for the most part, all that we are 
certain of. It is an immense plain of an excessive elevation, in- 
tersected with barren rocks and vast deserts of black and almost 
moving sand. It is supported on all sides by mountains of granite, 
whose elevated summits determine the different climates of the 
great continent of Asia, and form the division of its waters. From 
its exterior flow all the great rivers of that part of the world. In 
the interior are a quantity of rivers, having little declivity, or no is- 
sue, which are lost in the sands, or perhaps feed stagnant waters. 
In the southern chains are countries, populous, rich and civilized ; 
Little Bucharia, Great and Little Thibet. The people of the north 
are shepherds and wanderers. Their riches consist in their herds. 
Their habitations are tents, and towns, and camps, which are trans- 
ported according to the wants of pasturage. The Buchanans en- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 71 

joy the right of trading to all parts of Asia, and the Thibetians 
cultivate the earth to advantage. The ancients had only a con- 
fused idea of Central Asia. " The inhabitants of the country," as 
we learn from a great authority, " are in a high state of civiliza- 
tion ; possessing all the useful manufactures, and lofty houses built 
with stone. The Chinese reckon (but this is evidently an exag- 
geration) that Thibet alone contains 33,000,000 of persons. The 
merchants of Cashmere, on their way to Yarkland in Little Bu- 
charia, pass through Little Thibet. This country is scarcely known 
to European geographers." The immense plain of Central Asia is 
hemmed in, and almost inaccessable by mountain ranges of the 
greatest elevation, which surround it on all sides, except China ; 
and when the watchful jealousy of the government of the Celestial 
Empire is considered, it will scarcely be wondered at, that the vast 
region in question is so little known. 

Such is the country which these newly discovered Jews are said 
to inhabit in such numbers. The following facts may perhaps serve 
to throw some additional light on this interesting subject. 

In the year 1822, a Mr. Sargon, who had been appointed one of 
the agents of the London Society, communicated to England some 
interesting accounts of a number of persons resident at Bombay ? 
Cinnamore, and their vicinity, who are evidently the descendants 
of the Jews, calling themselves Beni Israel, and bearing almost 
uniformly Jewish names, but with Persian terminations. This 
gentleman, feeling very desirous of obtaining all possible knowledge 
of their condition, undertook a mission for this purpose to Cinna- 
more ; and the result of his inquiries was, a conviction that they 
were not Jews of the one tribe and a half, being of a different race 
to the white and black Jews at Cochin, and consequently, that they 
were a remnant of the long lost Ten Tribes. This gentleman also 
concluded, from the information he obtained respecting the Beni 
Israel, or sons of Israel, that they existed in great numbers in the 
countries between Cochin and Bombay, the north of Persia, among 
the hordes of Tartary, and in Cashmere ; the very countries m 
which, according to the paragraph in the German paper, they exist 
in such numbers. So far, then, these accounts confirm each other ? 
and there is every probability that the Beni Israel, resident on the 
west of the Indian peninsula, had originally proceeded from Bu- 
charia. It will, therefore, be interesting to know something of their 



72 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

moral and religious character. The following particulars are col- 
lected from Mr. Sargon's accounts : 1. In dress and manners they 
resemble the natives so as not to be distinguished from them, ex- 
cept by attentive observation and inquiry. 2. They have Hebrew 
names of the same kind, and with the same local termination as 
the Sepoys in the ninth regiment Bombay native infantry. 3. 
Some of them read Hebrew, and they have a faint tradition of the 
cause of their original exodus from Egypt. 4. Their common lan- 
guage is the Hindoo. 5. They keep idols and worship them, and 
use idolatrous ceremonies intermixed with Hebrew. 6. They cir- 
cumcise their children. 7. They observe the Kipper, or great ex- 
piation day of the Hebrews, hut not the Sabbath, or any of the 
feast or fast days. S. They call themselves Gorah Jehudi, or white 
Jews; and they term the black Jews CollaJehudi. 9. They speak 
of the Arabian Jews 'as their brethren, but do not acknowledge the 
European Jews as such. They use, on all occasions, and under 
the most trivial circumstances, the usual Jewish prayer — " Hear, 
Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." 10. They have no cohen, 
(priest) levite, or kasi among them, under those terms ; but they 
have a kasi, (reader,) who performs prayers, and conducts their 
religious ceremonies : and they appear to have elders and a chief 
in each community, who determine in their religious concerns. 1 1 . 
They expect the Messiah, and that they will one day return to 
Jerusalem. They think that the time of his appearance will soon 
arrive, at which they much rejoice, believing that at Jerusalem they 
will see their God, worship him only, and be despised no more. 

These particulars, we should presume, cau scarcely fail to prove 
interesting, both in a moral and religious, as well as in a geograph- 
ical point of view. The number of the scattered members of the 
tribes of Judah, and the half tribe of Benjamin, rather exceed than 
fall short of five millions. Now, if this number be added to the 
many other millions to be found in the different countiies of the 
east, what an immense power would be brought into action, were 
the spirit of nationality once roused, or any extraordinary event to 
occur, which should induce them to unite in claiming possession of 
that land which was given to them for an heritage forever," and 
to which, in 2very other clime of the earth, their fondest hopes and 
their dearest aspirations never cease to turn." 

But although the opinion, that the American Indians are the de- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 73 

scendants of the lost Ten Tribes, is now a popular one, and gene- 
rally believed, yet there are some who totally discard this opinion. 
And among such, as chief, is Professor Rafinesque, whose opinions 
on the subject of the flood of Noah not being universal, and of the 
ark, we have introduced on the first pages of this work. 

This gentleman is decidedly, we may say severely, opposed to 
this doctrine, and alleges that the Ten Tribes were never lost, but 
are still in the countries of the east about the region of ancient Sy- 
ria, in Asia. He ridicules all those authors who have attempted 
to find in the customs of the Indians, traits of the Jews, and stamps 
them with being egregiously ignorant of the origin of things per- 
taining to this subject. This is taking a high v stand, indeed, and 
if he can maintain it, he has a right to the honor thereof. Upon 
this notion, he says, a new sect of religion has arisen, namely, the 
Mormanites, who pretend to have discovered a book with golden 
leaves, in which is the history of the American Jews, and their 
leader, Merman, who came hither more than 2,000 years ago. 
This work is ridiculous enough, it is true ; as the whole book of 
Morman "bears the stamp of folly, and is a poor attempt at an imi- 
tation of the Old Testament Scriptures, and is without connection, 
object, or aim ; shewing every where language and phrases of too 
late a construction to accord with the Asiatic manner of composi- 
tion, which highly characterises the style of the Bible. 

As reasons, this philosopher advances as follows, against the 
American nations being descended from the Ten Tribes of ancient 
Israel : 

" 1st. These Ten Tribes are not lost, as long supposed ; their 
descendants, more or less mixed with the natives, are yet found in 
Media, Iran, Taurin, Cabulistan, Hindostan, and China, where late 
travellers have traced them, calling themselves by various names. 
2d. The American nations knew not the Sabbath, nor yet the 
Sabbattical weeks and years of the Jews. This knowledge could 
never have been lost by the Hebrews. The only weeks known in 
America, were of three days, five days, and half lunations, (or half 
a moon ;) as among the primitive nations, before the week of seven 
days was used in Asia, which was based upon the seven planets, 
long before the laws of Moses." 

Here is another manifest attempt of this philosopher to invali- 
date the Scriptures, in attempting to fix the origin of the ancient 

10 



74 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Jewish and present Christian Sabbath, on the observances of the 
ancient nations, respecting the motions of the seven primary planets 
of the heavens ; when it is emphatically said, in the Hebrew 
Scriptures, that the week of seven days was based on the seven 
days' work of the Creator, in the creation of the world. And as 
the Creation is older than the astronomical observations of the most 
ancient nations of the earth, it is evident that the Scripture account 
of the origin of the seven-day week ought to have the precedence 
over all other opinions since sprung up. 

3d. He says, " The Indians hardly knew the use of iron, although 
common among the Hebrews, and likely never to be lost ; nor did 
they, the Indians of America, know the use of the plough." 

"4th. The same applies to the use of writing; such an art is 
never lost when once known." 

" 5th. Circumcision was unknown, and even abhorred by the 
Americans, except two nations, who used it— the Mayans, of Yu- 
catan, in South America, who worshipped an hundred idols, and 
the Calchaquis, of Chaco, of the same country, who worshipped 
the sun and stars, believing that departed souls became stars. These 
beliefs are quite different from Judaism ; and besides this, the rite 
of circumcision was common to Egypt, Ethiopia, Edom, and 
Chalchis." 

But to this we reply, supposing circumcision was practised by all 
those nations, and even more, this does not disprove the rite to be 
of pure Hebrew or Jewish origin, as we have an account of it in 
the Scriptures written by Moses, as being in use quite two thou- 
sand years before Christ ; long enough before Abraham or his pos- 
terity knew any thing of the Egyptians; it was therefore, most un- 
doubtedly introduced among the Egyptians by the Jews themselves, 
or their ancestors, and from them the custom has gone out into 
many nations of the earth. 

Again, Mr. Rafinesque says, one tribe there was, namely, the 
Calchaquis, who worshipped the sun and the stars, supposing them 
to be the souls of the departed. 

This notion is not very far removed from, or at least may have 
had its origin with the Jews ; for Daniel, one of their prophets, 
who lived about 500 years before Christ, expressly says, respecting 
the souls of the departed righteous : " They that be wise shall shine 
as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 75 

righteousness, as the stars, for ever and ever." A sentiment of 
such transcendant beauty and consequence is not easily lost. This 
tribe, therefore, as above named, may they not have been of Jew- 
ish origin ? 

" 6. None of the American tribes have the striking, sharp, Jew- 
ish features, and physical confirmation. " [But other authors, of 
equal celebrity, have a contrary opinion.] 

" 7. The American Indians eat hogs, hares, fish, and all the for- 
bidden animals of Moses, but each tribe abstain from their tutelar 
animals," (which, as they imagine, presides over their destinies,) 
"or badges of families of some peculiar sort." 

But to this we reply, most certainly the Jews did use fish ; as in 
all their history, even in the Bible, frequent reference is had to 
their use of fishes, and to their fish markets, where they were sold 
and bought. 

" 8. The American customs of scalping, torturing prisoners, can- 
nibalism, painting their bodies, and going naked, even in very cold 
climates, are totally unlike the Hebrew customs." Scalping, with 
several other customs of the sort, we have elsewhere in this work 
shown to be of Scythian origin ; but does not, on that account, 
prove, nor in any way invalidate the other opinion, that some of the 
tribes are indeed of Jewish origin. 

" 9. A multitude cf languages exists in America, which may 
perhaps be reduced to twenty-five radical languages, and two thou- 
sand dialects. But they are often unlike the Hebrew, in roots, 
words, and grammar; they have, by far, says this author, more an- 
alogies with the Sanscrit" (the ancient Chinese,) Celtic, Bask, 
Pelasgian, Berber," (in Europe ;) " Lybian, Egyptian," (in Afii- 
ca;) u Persian, Turan, &c," (also in Europe;) "or in fact, all 
the primitive languages of mankind." This we believe. 

" 10. The Americans cannot have sprung from a single nation, 
because, independently of the languages, their features and com- 
plexions are as various as in Africa and Asia." 

" We find in America, while, tawny, brown, yellow, olive, cop- 
per, and even black nations, as in Africa. Also, dwarfs and giants., 
handsome and ugly features, flat and aquiline noses, thick and thin 
lips," &c [Among the Jews is also as great a variety.] 

The Rev. Mr. Smith, of Pulteney, Vt, a few years since, pub- 
lished a work, entitled " A view of the Hebrews," in which he 



76 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

labors to establish that the American Indians worshipped but one 
God ; the great Yohewah, or Jehovah of the Scriptures. This is 
vehemently opposed by Philosopher Rafinesque, as follows, in re- 
ply to him. 

" You say, all the Americans had the same God Yohewa; this is 
utterly false. This was the god of the Chactas and Florida In- 
dians only ; many other tribes had tripple gods, or trimurtis, as in 
Hindostan, having names nearly Sanscrit." [But neither does this 
disprove that some of these tribes are of Jewish origin.] 

" Polytheism," (a plurality of wives,) " idolatry, and a complex 
mythology, prevailed among all the most civilized nations" of this 
country. 

" All the ancient religions were found in America," which have 
prevailed in the old world, in the earliest ages, as " Theism, Sa- 
baism, Magism Hindooism, Shamanism, Fetichism, &c, but no 
Judaism" 

He says, the few examples of the affinity between the Indian 
languages and the Hebrew, given by Mr. Smith, in his work, be- 
long only to the Floridan and Caribbean languages. Mr. Rafin- 
esque says, he could show ten times as many in the Aruac, Gua- 
rian," (languages of South America,) " but what is that compared 
with the 100,000 affinities with the primitive languages." 

" All the civilized Americans had a priesthood, or priestly caste, 
and so had the Hindoos, Egyptians, Persians, Celts, and Ethiopians. 
Were they all Jews ? 

" 4. Tribes are found among all the ancient nations, Arabs, Ber- 
bers, Celts, Negroes, &c, who are not Jews. The most civilized 
nations had castes, instead of tribes, in America ?■.% well as Egypt 
and India ; the Mexicans, the Mayans, Mi iizcas, the Peruvians, 
&c, had no tribes. The animal badges of tribes, are found among 
Negroes and Tartars, as well as our Indians." 

" 5. Arks of covenant and cities of refuge are not peculiar to the 
Jews ; many Asiatic nations had them, also the Egyptians, and 
nine-tenths of our Indian tribes have none at all, or have only holy 
bags," (for an ark) somewhat like a talisman, a charm, or as the 
" Fetiches, of the Africans." 

But we reply, there is no evidence that other nations than the 
Jews had cities cf refuge and imitations of the ark of the cov- 
enant, prior to the time of Moses, which was full sixteen hundred 



AND DISC0VERIE3 IN THE WEST- 77 

years before Christ, and from whom it is altogether probable, that 
all the nations among whom such traits are found, derived them at 
first from the laws of that Hebrew Legislator. Those nations, 
therefore, among whom, at this distance of time, those traits are 
found most resembling the Jews, may be said, with some degree 
of propriety, to be their descendants ; and among many tribes of 
the western Indians, these traits are found, if we may believe the 
most credible witnesses. 

" 6. The religious cry of aleluya, is not Jewish, says this au- 
thor, but primitive, and found, among the Hindoos, Arabs, Greeks, 
Saxons, Celts, Lybians, &c, under the modification oihulili, yuluht, 
tulujah, 8$c. Other Americans call it ululaez gualulu, aluyah, §c." 

All this being true, which we are willing to allow, does not dis- 
prove, but that these forms of speech, which are directed in praise and 
adoration of a Supreme or Superior Being of some nature, no mat- 
ter what, may all have originated from the Hebrew Jews, as this 
name of God, namely, Jehovah, was known among that nation, be- 
fore the existence as nations, by those names, of either the Hindoos, 
Arabs, Greeks, Saxons, Celts, or Lybians ; for it was known in the 
family of Noah, and to all the patriarchs before the Hood. The 
original word, translated God, was Jehova, and also Elohim, which 
are generally translated Lord and God. 

In the 2d chapter of Genesis, at the 4th verse, the word Jehovah 
first occurs, says Dr. Clarke, in the original as written by Moses; 
but was in use long before the days of Abraham, among the ances- 
tors of that patriarch. From this word, Jehovah, and Elohim, the 
words alleluia, &c, as above, it is admitted on all hands, were at 
first derived ; and are in all nations, where known and used, di- 
rected to the praise and adoration of the Almighty, or other objects 
of adoration. * * 

This most exalted form of praise, it appears, was known to John 
the Revelator, for he says in chapter 19, " I heard a great voice of 
much people in heaven, saying, alleluia ; and again, they said, 
Alleluia" This form of praise, says Dr. Clarke, the heathen bor- 
rowed from the Jews, as is evident from their Pazans, or hymns, 
sung in honor of Apollo, which began and ended with eleleuie, a 
mere composition of the Hebrew words alleluia and hallehtjh. It is 
even found among the North American Indians, and adapted by them 
to the same purpose, viz., the worship of God or the Great Spirit. 



78 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

From what we have been able to show on this subject, as above, 
we cannot subscribe to the opinion that those words are not of He- 
brew and Jewish drigtns; consequently being of Hebrew origin, 
it must follow, that where they are found in the most pure and 
unadulterated use, that the people so using them are most likely to 
be of Jewish descent ; and this is found among the American In- 
dians. 

Among some of tr?ir tribes they have a place denominated the 
beloved square. Here hey sometimes dance a whole night ; but al- 
ways in a bowing or worshiping posture, singing continually, hal- 
lelujah Ye-ho-wah, Ye-ho-vah ; which fast word, says Clarke, is 
probably the true pron jnciation of the ancient Hebrew word Jehovah. 

It is no marvel, then, that these Jewish customs are found " a- 
mong nearly all the indent nations of Asia, Africa, Europe and 
Polynesia, nay, even among the wild Negroes to this day," since 
they were in use at the very outset of the spread of the nations 
from Ararat, and are, therefore, of Hebrew primitive origin, but 
not heathen primitive origin, as asserted by Rafinesque. We are 
not tenacious, however, whether the Ten Tribes were lost or not, 
nor do we disagree to the opinion, that they are found in almost all 
parts of the old world, having mingled with the various nations of 
Asia ; but if so, we enquire, why may they not, therefore, be 
found in America ? could they not as easily have found their way 
hither, as the other nations of the east ? Most assuredly. 

It is not the object of this volume, to contend on this point ; but 
when we find attempts to overturn the Scriptures, and, if possible, 
to make it appear, if not by so many words, yet in the manner 
we understand this writer's remarks, that the Bible itself is no- 
thing else than a collection of heathenism placed under the plausible 
idea of primitive words, primitive usages and primitive religion ; we 
think this is placing the (currus bovem. trah'tt) cart before the horse, 
and should not be allowed to pass without reproof. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 79 



A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF THE CONVULSIONS OF THE GLOBE, 
WITH THE REMOVAL OF ISLANDS. 

If the supposition of naturalists may obtain belief, it follows, 
that there may have been a whole continent, reaching from the 
north of Europe to Bhering's Strait; uniting, not only Europe wilh 
America, on the east, but also Asia, on the north, and may have 
continued on south from Bhering's Strait, some way down the Pa- 
cific, as Buffbn partly believed, uniting America and China on the 
west. 

It was contended by Clavigero, that the equatorial parts of Afri- 
ca and America were once united. By which means, before the 
connexion was torn away by the irruption of the sea on both sides, 
the inhabitants from the African continent came, in the earliest 
ages, to South America. Whether this be true or not, the two 
countries approach each other, in a remarkable manner, along the 
coast of Guinea, on the side of Africa, and the coast of Pernam- 
buco, on the side of South America. These are the places which, 
in reality, seem to stretch towards each other, as if they had been 
once united. 

The innumerable islands scattered all over the Pacific ocean, 
populous with men, more than intimates a period, even since the 
flood, when all the different continents of the globe were united to- 
gether, and the sea so disposed of, that they did not break this har- 
mony so well calculated to facilitate the migrations of men and an- 
imals. 

Several tribes of the present Southern Indians, as they now are 
called, have traditions, that they came from the east y or through 
the Atlantic ocean. Rafinesque says, it is important to distinguish 
the American nations of eastern origin from those of northern, who, 
he says, were invaders from Tartary, and were as different in their 
manners as were the Romans and Vandals. 

The southern nations, among whom this tradition is found, are 
the Natchez, Apalachians, Talascas, Mayans, Myhizcas, and Hay- 
tians. But those of the Algonquin stock, point to a northwest ori- 
gin, which is the way from the northern regions of Asia- 



80 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

It is not likely, that immediately after the era of the deluge, there 
was as much ocean which appeared above ground as at the present 
time ; but instead of this, lakes were more numerous. Conse- 
quently, on the surface of the globe there was much more land 
than at the present time. But from various convulsions, more than 
we have spoken of, whose history is now lost, in past ages, many- 
parts, nay, nearly all the earthy surface is sunken to the depths 
below, while the waters have risen above; nearly three-fourths of 
the globe's surface is known to be water. How appalling is tfeis 
reflection ! 

The currents of sea running through the bowels of the earth, by 
the disposition of its Creator, to promote motion in the waters, as 
motion is essential to all animal life, have, doubtless, by subterra- 
nean attrition affected the foundations of whole islands, which have 
sunk beneath the waters at different periods. To such convulsions 
as these, it would seem, Job has alluded in his ninth chapter, at 
the 5th verse, as follows: "Which removeth the mountains, and 
they know not ; which overturneth them in his anger." Adam 
Clarke's comment on this verse is as follows : "This seems to refer 
to earthquakes. By these strong convulsions, mountains, valleys, 
hills, even whole islands, are removed in an instant: and to this latter 
circumstance the words, " they know notf* most probably refer. 
The work is done in the twinkling of an eye ; no warning is given ; 
the mountain that seemed to be as firm as the earth on which it 
rested, w T as in the same moment both visible and invisible ; so sud- 
denly was it swallowed up." 

It can scarcely be supposed, but that Job was either personally, or 
by information, acquainted with occurrences of the kind, in order to 
justify the thing as being done by God in his anger. 

It is not impossible but the fact upon which the following story 
is founded may have been known to Job, who was a man suppos- 
ed in possession of every species of information calculated to inter- 
est the nobler faculties of the human mind, if we may judge from 
the book bearing his own name. The story is an account of a cer- 
tain island, called by the ancients At a hint is ; and for ought that 
can be urged against it having existed, we are inclined to believe 
it did, as that all learning, uninspired, and general information, was 
anciently in possession of heathen philosophers and priests, to whom 
it was the custom even for princes to resort to, and learn of, be- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 81 

fore they were considered qualified to sit on the thrones of their 
fathers. Such were the Egyptian priests to the Egyptians, and the 
Druids to the Celtic nations; the Brahmins to the Hindoos ; the 
Magi to the Persians ; the Philosophers to the Greeks and Romans ; 
and the Prophets of the Indians, to the western Tribes. 

" This island is mentioned by Plato, in his dialogue of Timaeus. 
Solon, the Athenian lawgiver, is supposed to have travelled into 
Egypt," about six hundred years before Christ. Plato's time was 
three hundred years nearer the time of Christ, who has mentioned 
the travels of Solon into Egypt. '" He arrives at an ancient tem- 
ple on the Delta, a fertile island formed by the Nile, where he held 
a conversation with certain learned priests, on the antiquities of re- 
mote ages. When one of them gave Solon a description of the 
island Atalantis, and also of its destruction. This island, said the 
Egyptian priest, was situated in the Western Ocean, opposite the 
Straits of Gibralter f* which would place it exactly between a part 
of Europe, its southern end, and the northern part of Africa and 
the continent of America. 

a There was, said the priest, an easy passage from this to other 
islands, which lay adjacent to a large continent, exceeding in size 
all Europe and Asia." Neptune settled in this island, from whose 
son Alias, its" name was derived, and divided it between his ten 
sons, who reigned there in regular succession for many ages." 

From the time of Solon's travels in Egypt, which was six hun- 
dred years before Christ, we find more than seventeen hundred 
years up to the Hood; so that time enough had elapsed since the 
flood to justify the fact of the island having existed, and also of 
having been inhabited and destroyed even six hundred years be- 
fore the time of Solon ; which would make the time of its destruc- 
tion twelve hundred years before Christ ; and would still leave 
more than five hundred years from that period back to the flood. 
So that if King Neptune had not made his settlement on the island 
Atalantis till two hundred years after the flood, there would have 
been time for the successive reigns of each of the regal lines of his 
sons, amounting to three hundred years, before the time of its en- 
velopement in the sea; so that the priest was justified in using the 
term antiquities, when he referred to that catastrophe. 

" They made, i. e. the Atalantians, irruptions into Europe and 
Africa ; subduing all Lybia, as far as Egypt, Europe, and Asia 

ii 



82 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Minor. They were resisted, however, by the Athenians, and 
driven back to their Atlantic territories." If they were resisted 
and diiven back by the Athenians, the era of the existence of this 
island is easily ascertained ; because the Athenians settled at 
Athens, in Greece, fifteen hundred and fifty-six years before Christ, 
bring a colony from Egypt, under their conductor Cecrops. One 
hundred years after their establishment at Athens, they had be- 
come powerful, so as to be able to take a political stand among the 
nations of that region, and to defend their country* against invasions. 
Accordingly, at the time the Atalantians were repulsed and com- 
pelled to return from whence they came, was in the year fourteen 
hundred and forty-three, before Christ. 

" Shortly after this," says Plato, " there was a tremendous earth- 
quake and an overflowing of the sea, which continued for a day 
and a night ; in the course of which the vast island of Atalantis, 
and all its splendid cities and warlike nations, were swallowed up, 
and sunk to the bottom of the sea, which, spreading its waters over 
the chasm, added a vast region to the Atlantic Ocean. For a long 
time, however, the sea was not navigable, on account of rocks and 
shoals of mud and slime, and of the ruins of that drowned coun- 
try." This occurrence, if the tradition be true, happeued about 
twelve hundred years before Christ, three hundred years befoie the 
time of Job, and seven hundred and fifty years after the flood. At 
the period, therefore, of the existence of this island, a land passage 
to America, from Europe and Africa, was practicable ; also by 
other islands, some ot which are still situated in the same direc- 
tion—the Azores, Madeiras, and Teneriffe islands, about twenty in 
number. 

For this story of the island of Atalantis, we are indebted to Ir- 
ving's Columbus, a popular work, of recent date ; which cannot be 
denied but is exceedingly curious, and not without some foundation 
of probability. Was not this island the bridge, so called, reaching 
from America to Europe, as conjectured by Dr. Robertson, the his- 
torian, but was destroyed by the ocean, as he supposes, very far 
back in the ages of antiquity. 

An allusion to this same island, Atalantis, is made by Euclid, 
who flourished about three hundred years before Christ, in a con- 
Tersation which he had with Anacharsis, a Scythian philosopher of 
the same age ; who had, in search of knowledge, travelled from 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 53 

the wilds of his own northern regions, to Athens, where he became 
acquainted with Euclid. 

Their subject was the convulsions of the globe, The sea, ac- 
cording to every appearance, said Euclid, has separated Sicily from 
Italy, Eubaa from Bceotia, and a number of other islands from the 
continent of Europe. We are informed, continued the philoso- 
pher, that the waters of Pontus Euxinus, (or the Black Sea,) having 
been long enclosed in a basin, (or lake,) shut in on ail sides, and 
continually increasing by the rivers of Europe and Asia, rose at 
length above the high lands which surrounded it, forced open the 
passage of the Bosphorus and Hellespont, and impetuously rushing 
into the iEgean or Mediterranean Sea, extended its limits to the 
surrounding shores. 

If we consult, he says, mythology, we are told that Hercules* 
whose labors have been confounded with those of nature, separated 
Europe from Africa ; by which is meant, no doubt, that the Atlan- 
tic Ocean destroyed the isthmus, which once united those two parts 
of the earth, and opened to itself a communication with the Medi- 
terranean Sea. 

Beyond the isthmus, of which I have just spoken, said Euclid, 
existed, according to ancient traditions, &n island as large as Africa, 
which, with all its wretched inhabitants, was swallowed up by an 
earthquake. 

Here, then, is another witness, besides Solon, who lived 300 
years before the time of Euclid, who testifies to the past existence 
of the island Atalantis. 



EVIDENCES OF AN ANCIENT POPULATION IN AMERICA, DIF 
FERENT FROM THAT OF THE INDIANS. 

We shall now attend more particularly to the evidences of an 
ancient population in this country, anterior to that of the present 
race of Indians, afforded in the discovery of forts, mounds, tumuli, 
and their contents, as related by western travellers, and the re- 
searches of the Antiqnarain Society, at Cincinnati. But before we 
proceed to an account of the traits of this kind of population, more 



84 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

than already given, we will remark, that wherever plats of ground, 
struck out into circles, squares and ovals, are found, we are at once 
referred to an era when a people and nations existed in this coun- 
try, more civilized, refined, and given to architectural and agricul- 
tural pursuits, than the Indians. 

It is well known, the present tribes do not take the trouble of 
' materially altering the face of the ground to accommodate the erec- 
tion of their places of dwelling ; always selecting that which is al- 
ready fashioned by nature to suit their views; using the earth, 
where they build their towns, as they find it. 

In a deep and almost hidden valley among the mountains of 
the Alleghany, on the road from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, is one 
of those solitary memorials of an exterminated race. It is hid 
amidst the profoundest gloom of the woods ; and is found to consist 
of a regular circle, an hundred paces in diameter. This is equal 
to six rods and four paces; and twenty -two rods in circumference. 
The whole plat is raised above the common level of the earth 
around, about four feet high ; which may have been done to carry 
or! the water, when the snows melted, or when violent rains would 
otherwise, have inundated their dwellings from the surrounding 
hills. 

The neighborhood of Brownville, or Redstone, in Pennsylvania, 
abounds with monuments of antiquity. A fortified camp, of a very 
complete and curious kind, on the ramparts of which is timber of 
five feet in diameter, stands near the town of Brownville. This 
camp contains about thirteeen acres, enclosed in a circle, the ele- 
vation of which is seven feet above the adjoining ground ; this was 
an herculean work. Within the circle a pentagon is accurately 
described ; having its sides four feet high, and its angles uniformly 
three feet from the outside of the circle, thus leaving an unbroken 
communication all around. A pentagon is a figure, having five 
angles or sides. Each side of the pentagon has a postern, or small 
gateway, opening into the passage between it and the circle ; but 
the circle itself has only one grand gateway outward. Exactly in 
the centre stands a mound about thirty feet high, supposed to have 
been a place of lookout. At a small distance from this place, was 
found a stone, eight feet by five, on which w r as accurately engraved 
a representation of the whole work, with the mound in the cen- 
tre ; whereon was the likness of a human head, which signified 



■ 

AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 85 

that the chief who presided there, lay buried beneath it. The en- 
graving on this stone, is evidence of the knowledge of stone cut- 
ting as it was executed with a considerable degree of accuracy. 

On comparing the description of this circular monument with a 
description of works of a similar character, found in Denmark, 
Sweden, and Iceland, the conclusion is drawn, that at some era of 
time the authors of this kind of monumental works, in either of 
those countries, have been the same. 

"They are called Domh-ringr, by the Danes; that is, literally, 
Doom Ring, or CmcLE of^udgment; being the solemn place 
where courts were held." The celebrated stonehenge in England, 
is built after the same fashion, that is, in a circle, and is of Belgic 
origin ; the second class of English antiquities, the era of which 
precedes that of the Romans in England; which would throw the 
time of their first erection back to a period of some hundred years 
before Christ. 

" Stonehenge : This noble and curious monument of early 
times, appears to have been formed by three principal circles of 
stone, the outer connected together by an uniform pavement, as it 
were, at the top, to which the chiefs might ascend and speak to the 
surrounding crowd. A second circle consists of detached upright 
stones, about five fleet in height, while the highest are. eighteen. 
Within this is a grand oval, consisting of five huge stones, crossed 
by another at the top, and enclosing smaller stones, which seem 
to have been seats, and a large flat stone, commonly called the al- 
tar, but which seems to have been the throne or seat of judgment. 
The whole of the above described monument, with all its appara- 
tus, " seems to be enclosed in the midst of a very extensive circle, 
or embankment of earth, sufficiently large to hold an immense num- 
ber ; a whole tribe or nation."— Morse. 

After the introduction of Christianity into the west of Europe, 
which was sixty years after Christ, these circles of judgment, 
which had been polluted with human sacrifices and other pagan 
rites, were abandoned, and other customs, with other places of re- 
sort, were instituted. This sort of antiquities, says Morse, the geo- 
grapher, which are found all over Europe, are of this character, 
that is, of the tumular kind, such as are found in the west of our 
country ; belong entirely to the first era of the settlements of Eu- 
rope. 



&6 AMERICAN ANTmumEa 

The Druidig temples in Europe were numerous, and some of 
them immense, especially one in the Isle of Lewis ; in these the 
gods Odin, Thor, Freyga, and other Gothic Deities, were adored ; 
all such structures were enclosed iu circles, some greater and some 
less, according to their importance, or the numbers of those who 
supported them. These are of the first order of Antiquities found 
in Europe ; or, in other words, the eldest, and go back very far to- 
ward the flood, for their commencement. 

The same kind of antiquities are found in Ireland, and are allow- 
ed to be of Druidic origin, always enclosed in circles, whether a 
simple stone, or a more spacious temple, be the place where they 
worshipped. The Scandinavians, who preceded the Norwegians 
some hundred years, enclosed their rude chapels with circular in- 
trenchments, and were called the Dane's Raths,oi circular intrench- 
EjentSo 

" In the first ages of the world, the worship of God was exceed- 
ingly simple ; there were no temples nor covered edifices of any 
kind. An altar, sometimes a single stone ; sometimes it consisted 
of several ; and at other times merely of turf, was all that was ne- 
cessary ; on this the fire was lighted, and the sacrifice offered. "— 
Adam Clarke. 

Such were the Druids of Europe, whose name is derived from 
the kind of forest in which they preferred to worship"; this was the 
oak, which, in the Greek, is expressed by the w T ord Druid, whose 
worship and principles extend even to Italy, among the Celtic na- 
tion*, and is celebrated by Virgil, in the sixth book of the JEneas, 
where he speaks of the Misletoe, and calls it the golden branch, with- 
out which, no one could return from the iufernal regions. 

The Misletoe; — a description of which may please the reader, as 
given by Pliny, who flourished about A. D. 23, and was a cele- 
brated writer of natural history, and most learned ot the ancient 
Romans. " The Druids hold nothing more sacred than the Misle- 
toe, and the tree on which it grows, provided it be the oak. They 
make choice of groves of oak, on this account ; nor do they per- 
form any of their sacred rites, without the leave? of those trees. 
And whenever they find it on the oak, they think it is sent from 
Heaven, and is a sign that God himself has chosen that tree ; and 
whenever found, is treated with great ceremony. 

" They call it by a name, which, in their language, signifies the 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 87 

curer of ills ; and having duly prepared their feasts and sacrifices 
under the tree, they bring to it two white bulls; the priest dressed 
in a white robe, ascends the tree, and with a golden, prunning hook, 
cuts off the Misletoe, which is received in a Sagum or white, sheet. 
Then they sacrifice the victims, praying that God would bless his 
own gift to those on whom he has bestowed it." — Clarke* 



DISCOVERIES ON THE MUSKINGUM. 

In the neighborhood of Fort Harme^ on the Muskingum, op- 
posite Marietta, on the Ohio, were discovered, by Mr. Ash, an En- 
glish traveller, 1826, several monuments of the ancient nation. 

" Having made, (says this traveller,) arrangements for an ab- 
sence of a few days, I provided myself with an excellent tinder 
box, some biscuit and salt, and arming my Indian travelling com- 
panion with a good axe and rifle, taking myself a fowling piece, 
often tried, and my faithful dog, I crossed the ferry of the Musk- 
ingum, having learned that the left hand side of that river was most 
accessible and the most abundant in curiosities and other objects 
of my research. [In another part of this work we shall describe 
works of a similar sort, on the opposite side of the Muskingum, as 
given by the Antiquarian Society of Ohio.] 

" On traversing the valley between Fort Harmer and the moun- 
tains, I determined to take the high grounds, and after some diffi- 
culty, ascended an eminence which commanded a view of the town 
of Marietta and of the river up and down, displaying to a great 
distance, along the narrow valley of the Ohio, cultivated plains, 
the gardens, and popular walks of that beautiful town. 

" After a very short inspection and cursory examination, it was 
evident, that the very spot, or eminence on which I stood, had been 
occupied by the Indians, either as a place of observation, or a strong 
bold. The exact summit of the hill I found to be artificial ; it ex- 
pressed an oval, forty-five feet by twenty-three, and was compose 1 
apparently of earth and stone, though no stone of a similar char- 
acter appeared in that place- 



88 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

" The base of the whole was girded round about, by a wall of 
earth in a state of too great decay to justify any calculation, and 
the whole was so covered with heavy timber, that I despaired of 
gaining any further knowledge, and would have left the place, had 
I not been detained by my Indian companion, whom I saw occu- 
pied in endeavoring to introduce a pole into a small opening be- 
tween two flat stones, near the root of a tree 5 which grew on the 
very summit of this eminence. 

" The stones we found were too heavy to be removed by the 
mere power of hands. Two good oak poles were cut, in lieu of 
levers and crows. Clapping these into the orifice first discovered, 
we weighed a large flag stone, tilting it over, when we each as- 
sumed a guarded position, in silent expectation of hearing the his- 
sing of serpents, or the rustling of the ground hog's litter ; where, 
the Indian had supposed, was a den of one sort or the other. 

" All was silent. We resumed our labor, casting out a number 
of stones, leaves, and earth, soon clearing a surface of seven feet by 
five, which had been covered, upwards of fifteen inches deep, with 
flat stones, principally lying against each other, with their edges to 
the horizon. 

" On the surface we had cleared, appeared another difficulty, 
which was a plain superfices, composed of but three flat stones of 
such apparent magnitude that the Indian began to think that we 
should find under them neither snake nor pig, but having once be- 
gun, I was not to be diverted from my task, 

" Stimulated by obstructions, and animated with other views 
than those of my companion, I had made a couple of hickory sho- 
vels with the axe, and setting to work, soon undermined the surface, 
and slid the stones off on one side, and laid the space open to 
view. 

a I expected to find a cavern : my imagination was warmed by 
a certain design, I thought I discovered, from the very beginning; 
the manner the stones were placed led me to conceive the existence 
of a vault filled with the riches of antiquity, and crowded with the 
treasures of the most ancient world. 

" A bed of sand was all that appeared under these flat stones, 
which I cast off, and as I knew there was no sand nearer than the 
bed of the Muskingum, a design was therefore the more manifest. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 89 

which encouraged my proceeding ; the sand was about a foot deep, 
which I soon removed. 

" The design and labor of man was now unequivocal. The 
space out of which these materials were taken, left a hollow in an 
obloug square, lined with stones on the end and sides, aud also, 
paved on what appeared to be the bottom, with square stones, of 
about nine inches diameter. 

" I picked these up with the nicest care, and again came to a 
bed of sand, which, when removed, made the vault about three feet 
deep, presenting another bottom or surface, composed of small 
square cut stones, fitted with such art, that I had much difficulty 
in discovering many of the places where they met. These dis- 
placed, I came to a substance, which, on the most critical examin- 
ation, I judged to be a mat, or mats, in a state of entire decomposir 
tion and decay. My reverence and care increased with the progress 
already made ; I took up this impalpable powdisr with my hands, 
and fanned off the remaining dust with my hat, when there ap- 
peared a beautiful tesselated pavement of small, colored stones ; 
the colors and stones arranged in such a manner as to express har- 
mony and shades, and portraying, at full length, the figure of a war- 
rior under whose feet a snake was exhibited in ample folds. 

" The body of the figures was composed of dyed woods, bones, 
and a variety of small bits of terrous and testaceous substances, 
most of which crumbled into dust on being removed and exposed 
to the open air. 

"My regret and disappointment were very great, as I had flat- 
tered myself that the whole was stone, and capable of being taken 
up and preserved. Little more, however, than the actual pave- 
ment could be preserved, which was composed of flat stones, one 
inch deep, and two inches square. The prevailing colors were 
white, green, dark blue, and pale spotted red; all of which are pe- 
culiar to the lakes, and not to be had nearer than about three hun- 
dred miles. 

"The whole was aifixed in a thin layer of sand, fitted together 
with great precision, and covered a piece of bark in great decay, 
whose removal exposed what I was fully prepared to discover, from 
all previous indications, the remains of a human skeleton, which 
was of an uncommon magnitude, being seven feet in length. With 

12 



90 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

the skeleton was found, first, an earthen vessel, or urn, in which 
were several bones, and >some white sediment. 

"The urn appeared to fye made of sand and flint vitrified, and 
rung, when struck, like glass, and held about two gallons, had a 
top or cover of the same material, and resisted fire as completely as 
iron or brass. Second ; a stone axe, with a groove round the pole, 
by which it had been fastened with a withe to the handle. Third ; 
twenty-four arrow points, made of flint and bone, and lying in a 
position which showed they had belonged to a quiver. Fourth ; a 
quantity of beads, but not of glass, round, oval, and square ; color- 
ed green, black, white, blue and yellow. Filth ; a very large 
c&uch shell, decomposed into a substance like chalk ; this shell was 
fourteen inches long, and twenty-three in circumference. The 
Hindoo priests, at the present time, use this shell as sacred* It is 
blown to announce the celebration of religious festivals. Sixth ; 
under a heap of dust and tenuous shreds of feathered cloth and 
hair, a parcel of brass rings, cut out of a solid piece of metal, and 
in such a manner, that the rings were suspended from each other, 
without the aid of solder or any other visible agency whatever. 
Each ring was three inches in diameter, and the bar of the rings 
an half inch thick, and were square ; a variety of characters were 
deeply engraved on the sides of the rings, resembling the Chinese 
characters." <\ 

Ward's History of the Hindoos, page 41 and 56, informs us, that 
the god Vishnoo, is represented holding a sea shell in his hand, 
called the " sacred shell ;" and, second, he states, that " the uten- 
sils employed in the ceremonies of the temple, are several dishes to 
hold the offerings, a hand bell, a lamp, jugs for holding water, an 
incense dish, a copper cup, a seat of Kooshu grass for the priests, a 
large metal ptate, used as a bell. Several of the articles found 
buiied in this manner, resemble these utensils of the Brahmin 
priests, while some are exactly like them. The mat of Kooshu 
grass resembles the mat of hair and feathers; the earthen dish, the 
conch shell, are the very same in kind ; the brass chain might an- 
swer instead of a bell, or iron plate to strike against, which would 
produce a gingling sound. A quantity of round, oval, and square 
beads, colored variously, were found ; although Mr. Ward does not 
say, that beads were a part of the utensils of the Hindoo priests, 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST* 91 

yet we find them on the necks and arms of both their gods and 
their mendicants. 

Pottery of the same kind found in those ancient works, have al- 
so the quality of enduring the fire. The art of making vessels of 
clay, is very ancient ; we find it spoken of by Jeremiah the pro- 
phet, nearly three thousand years ago. 

The art of coloring wood, stones, and shells, with a variety of 
beautiful tints, was also known, as appears from the pavement above 
described, and the colored beads. 

In many parts of the west, paints of various colors have been 
found hidden in the earth. On the Chenango river, in the sta-e of 
New- York, has recently been found, on opening of one of those 
ancient mounds, though of but small dimensions ; three kinds of 
paint, black, red, and yellow, which are now in the possession of. 
a Doctor Wiilard, at the village of Greene, in the county of Che- 
nango. 

The Indians of both China and America, have, from time imme- 
morial, used paints to adorn themselves and their gods. 

But the brass rings and tesselated pavement are altogether the 
most to be wondered at. A knowledge of the method of manufac- 
turing brass was known to the Antediluvians. This we learn from 
Genesis iv. 22. Tubal Cain was an artificer in brass and iron about 
eleven hundred years before the flood* 

But how this article, the brass chain, of such curious construc- 
tion, came in the possession of the chief, interred on the summit 
of the mountain, is a question to be answered, it would seem, in but 
two ways. They either had a knowledge of the art of making 
brass, or the article was an item of that king's peculiar treasure, 
and had been derived either from his ancestors from the earliest 
ages, or from South America, as an article of trade, a gift from 
some fellow king, or a trophy of some victorious battle over some 
southern nation ;. for, according to Humboldt, brass was found a- 
mong the native Mexicans, in great abundance. 

But how the Mexicans came by this art in mineralogy, is equally 
a question. Gold, silver, copper, &c, are the natural product of 
their respective ores ; and accident may have made them acquaint- 
ed with these ; as iron was discovered among the Greeks, by fire 
in the woods having melted the ore. But brass is farther removed 



92 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

from the knowledge of man, being a composition of copper and the 
calamine stone, or ore of zinc. However, it is said by Morse, that 
in Chili, in the hills of Huilquilemu, are found mines of native 
brass, of a fine yellow color, and equally maleable with the best 
artificial brass ; yet this is no common product of mineralogy, and 
would seem to be an exception, or rather a product extraordinary ; 
and, in a measure, induces a belief, that it is not proper brass, but a 
metal similar only in complexion, while perhaps its chemical pro- 
prieties are entirely different, or it may have been produced by the 
fusion of copper and the ore of zinc, by the fire of some volcano. 
Brass was the metal out of which the ancient nations made all 
their instruments of war, and defensive armor. The reason of 
this preference above copper and iron, even by the Greeks and 
Romans, was probably on account of the excessive bright polish it 
was capable of receiving ; for the Greeks and Romans used it iong 
after their knowledge of iron. Iron was discovered by the Greeks 
1406 years before Christ. T-ie ancient Americans must have de- 
rived a knowledge of brass from their early' acquaintance with na- 
tions immediately succeeding the flood, who bad it from the Antedi- 
luvians, by way of Noah ; and having found their way to this con- 
tinent, before it became so isolated as it is at the present time, 
surrounded on all sides by oceans, made use of the same meta! 
Lere. 

But the tesselated or spotted pavement is equally curious with 
the brass chain, on account of its resemblance to the Mosaic pave- 
ments of the Romans; being small pieces of marble, of various 
colors, with which they ornamented the fronts of their tents in 
time of war, but were taken up again whenever they removed. 
This sort of pavement is often dug up in England, aild is of Roman 
origin. 

We find the history of the ancient Britons, mentions the currency 
' of iron rings, as juonev ? which was in use among them, before the 
invasion of Julius Caes* >\r. Is it not possible, that the brass chain, 
or an assemblage of tho,3 e rings, as found iu this mound, may have 
been held among tho.se ai ^cients of America in the same estimation ? 
The chain, in their moje 0. f reckoning, being perhaps of an immense 
amount ; its being founr); de£ os i tea * w ^ tn lts owner, who was a chief 
or king, is the evider ce of iU ? peculiar value, whether it had been 
used as an article in, £ ra de, or > ls a sacred implement 



AND DISCOVERIES IH THE WEST. 93 

This maculated pavement, arranged in such a manner as to re- 
present in full size, the chief, lung, or monarch, who was interred 
beneath it, shows the knowledge, that people had of painting, sculp- 
ture, and descriptive delineation : but most of all, the serpent 
which lay coiled at his feet is surprising, because we suppose this 
transaction could not have happened from mere caprice, or the sport 
of imagination. 

It must have been a trait of their theology, and, possibly, an allu- 
sion to the serpent, by whose instrumentality Satan deceived the 
first woman, the mother of us all : and its being beneath his feet, 
may also have alluded to the promised seed, who was to bruise 
the Serpenth head ; all of which may easily have been derived 
from the family of Noah, and carried along with the millions of 
mankind, as they diverged asunder from Mount Ararat, around the 
wide earth. The Mexicans are found to have a clear notion of this 
thing, and of many other trait of the early history of man, as re- 
lated in the Hebrew records and '.he Scriptures, preserved in their 
traditions and paintings, as we shell show in another place. 

The etching on the square sides of those rings of brass, in char- 
acters resemb'ing Chinese, shows the manufacturer, and the nation 
of which he was a member, to have had a knowledge of engrav- 
ing, even on the metals, equal with artists at the present time, of 
which the common Indian of the west knows nothing. 

The stone hatchet, flint, and bone arrow points, found in this 
tomb, are no exclusive evidence that this was all done by the mod- 
ern Indians : because the same are found in vast profusion in all 
parts of the old world, particularly in the island of England ; and 
have been in use from remotest antiquity. 

We are very far from believing the Indians of the present time 
to be the aborigines of America ; but quite contrary, are usurpers; 
have, by force of bloody warfare, exterminated the original inhabi- 
tants, taking possession of their country, property, and in some few 
instances, retaining arts learned of those very nations. 

The immense sea shell, which was fourteen inches long, and 
twenty-three inches in circumference, found in this tomb, is evi- 
dence of this people's having an acquaintance with other parts of 
the world, than merely their own dwellings, because the shell is a 
marine production, and the nearest place where this element is 



$4 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

found from the Muskingum, is nearly a thousand miles in a strait 
line east to the Atlantic. 

If the engraving on this chain be, in fact, Chinese, or if they 
bear a strong and significant analogy to them, it justifies the opinion 
that a communication between America and Asia, by means of land 
on the west, once existed, but has been destroyed by some convul- 
sion in nature. And also the characters on those rings show the 
ancient Americans to have had a knowledge of letters. A knowl- 
edge of letters, hieroglyphics, pictures of ideas, and of facts, was 
known among men, 200 years before the time of Moses, or 1822 
years before the Christian era, among the Egyptians. Nations of 
men, therefore, having, at an early period, found their way to this 
continent, if indeed it was then a separate continent ; consequently, 
to find the remains of such an art, scattered here and there in the 
dust and ashes of the nations of America, passed away, is not surpris- 
ing. The mound which we have described, was apprehended by 
Mr. Ash, to be only an advanced guard post, or a place of lookout, 
in the direction of the Muskingum and the valley of the Ohio ; 
accordingly, he wandered farther into the woods, in a northwesterly 
direction, leaving on his right the Muskingum, whose course was 
northeast by southwest. 

His research in that direction had not long been continued, be- 
fore he discovered strong indications of his conjecture. He had 
come to a small valley between two mountains, through which a 
small creek meandered its way io the Muskingum. 

On either side of the stream were evident traits of a very large 
settlement of antiquity. They consisted, first, of a wall oi ram- 
part of earth, of almost nine feet perpendicular elevation, and thirty 
feet across the base. The rampart was of a semicircular form, its 
entire circuit being three hundred paces, or something over eigh- 
teen rods, bounded by the creek. On the opposite side of the 
stream was another rampart of the same description, evidently an- 
swering to the first; these, viewed together, made one grand circle, 
of more than forty rods circumference, with the creek runing be- 
tween. 

After a minute examination, he perceived very visibly the re- 
mains of elevated stone abutments, which being exactly opposite 
each other, suggested the belief, that these bridges once connected 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 95 

the two semicircles ; one in the centre, and one on either side, at 
the extreme edges of the ring. The timber growing on the ram- 
part and within the circle, was principally red oak, of great age 
and magnitude, some of the trees, being in a state of decay, were 
not less than seven feet in diameter, and twenty-one in circum- 
ference. 

Some considerable farther up the brook, at the spot where the 
beautiful vale commences, where the mountain rises abruptly and 
discharges from its cleft bosom the delightful creek, are a great 
number of mounds of earth, standing at equal distances from each 
other, forming three grand circles, one beyond the other, cut in two 
by the creek, as the one described before, with streets situated be- 
tween, forming, as do the mounds, complete circles. Here, as at 
the other, the two half circles were united, as would appear, by 
two bridges, the abutments of which are distinct, so perfect are 
their remains. 

At a considerable distance, on the sides of the mountain, are 
two mounds or barrows, which are nearly thirty feet long, twelve 
high, and seventeen wide at the base. These barrows are com- 
posed principally of stone taken out of the creek, on which are 
growing also very heavy timber. Here were deposited the dead, 
who had been the inhabitants of the town in the vale. From 
which it appears that the mounds forming those circles, which were 
sixty in number, are not tumuli, or the places where chiefs and dis- 
tinguished warriors were entombed, but were the houses, the actu- 
al dwellings of the people who built them. However, the distin- 
guished dead were interred in tumuli of the same form frequently, 
but much more magnificent and lofty, and are fewer in number, 
situated on the highest grounds adjacent to their towns. 

But it may be enquired, how could those mounds of earth have 
ever been the dwellings of families? There is but one way to ex- 
plain it- They may have, at the time of their construction, re- 
ceived their peculiar form, which is a conical or sugar loaf form, by 
the erection of long poles or logs, set up in a circle at the bottom, 
and brought together at the top, with an opening, so that the smoke 
might pass out. Against this the earth, (being brought from a dis- 
tance, so as not to disturb the even surface of the spot chosen to 
build on ? ) was thrown, till the top and ■ide* were entirely enveloped. 



/ 



96 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

■ 

This operation would naturally cause the bottom, or base, to 
be of great thickness, caused by the natural sliding down of the 
earth, as it was thrown on or against the timbers ; and this thick- 
ness would be in exact proportion with the height of the poles, at 
the ratio of an angle of forty-five degrees. 

In this way, a dwelling of the most secure description would be 
the result ; such as could not be easily broken through, nor set 
on fire ; and in winter would be warm, and in summer cool. It is 
true, such rooms would be rather gloomy, compared with the mag- 
nificent and well lighted houses of the present times, yet ac- 
corded well with the usages of antiquity, when mankind lived in 
clans and tribes, but few in number, compared with the present 
populousness of the earth, and stood in fear of invasion from their 
neighbors. 

Such houses as these, built in circles of wood at first, and lastly, 
of stone, as the knowledge of architecture came on, were used by 
the ancient inhabitants of Britain, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and 
on the continent, as in Norway. No mode of building which can 
be conceived of, would more effectually shutout the wind. "Houses 
of this form, made with upright stones, are even now common over 
all the Danish dominions." See Morse's Geography, vol. l,p- 158. 

In the communication of Mr. Moses Fiske, of Hillham, Tennes- 
see, to the American Antiquarian Society, 1815, respecting the re- 
mains and discoveries made relative to antiquities in the west, but 
especially in Tennessee, says, that the description of mounds, whe- 
ther round, square or oblong in their shapes, which have flat tops, 
were the most magnificent sort, and seem contrived for the purpose 
of building temples and castles on their summits ; which being 
thus elevated, w r ere very imposing, and might be seen at a great 
distance. 

" Nor must we," he continues, " mistake the ramparts or fortifica- 
tions, for farming inclosures ; what people, savage or civilized, ever 
fenced their grounds. so preposterously; beariug no proportion in 
quantity necessary for tillage ;" from which the support of a whole 
country was expected; and further, there "were many neighborhoods 
which had no such accommodations. 

He has also discovered, that within the areas encompassed by 
these ramparts, are whole ranges of foundations, on which duelling 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 97 

houses once stood, with streets running between, besides mounds 
and other works. " The houses generally stood in rows, nearly- 
contiguous to each other," as in all compact towns and cities, though 
sometimes they stood in an irregular and scattered manner. These 
foundations " are indicated by rings of the earth, from three to five 
fathoms in diameter," which is equal to eighteen and thirty feet ; 
the remains of these rings or foundations are from ten to twenty 
inches high, and a yard or more broad. But they were not always 
circular ; some of which he had noticed, were square, and others al- 
so, of the oblong form, as houses are now built by civilzed nations. 

" The flooring of some is elevated above the common level, or 
surface ; that of others is depressed. These tokens are indubita- 
ble, and overspread the country ; some scattered and solitary, but 
oftener in groups, like villages, with and without being walled in." 
From which it is clear, that whoever they were, the pursuits of 
agriculture were indispensable, and were therefore in use with 
those nations. 

From the forms of the foundations of dwellings discovered and 
described by Mr. Fiske, we conclude, they were the efforts of man 
at a very early period. We are directed to this conclusion by the 
writings of Vetruvius, who lived in the time of Julius Caesar, and 
is the most ancient writer on the subject of architecture that anti- 
quity can boast of- His account is as follows : 

" At first, for the walls, men erected forked stakes, and disposing 
twigs between them, covered them with loam ; others pulled up 
clods of clay, binding them with wood, and to'avoid rain and heat, 
they made a covering with reeds and boughs : but finding that t.his' 
roof could not resist the winter rains, they made it sloping, pointed 
at the top, plastering it over with clay, and by that means discharg- 
ing the rain water. "To this day, says Vetruvius, some foreign na- 
tions construct their dwellings of the same kind of materials, as in 
Gaul, Spain, Lusitania, and Aquitain. The Colchins, in the king- 
dom of Portugal, where they abound in forests, fix trees in the 
earth,, close together in ranks, to the right and left, leaving as much 
space between them, from corner to corner, as the length of the 
trees will permit ; upon the ends of these, at the corners, others are 
laid transversely, which circumclude the place of habitation in the 
middle ; then at the top, the four angles are braced together with 
alternate beams. The crevices, which are large, on account of- the 

13 



98 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

coarseness of the materials, are stopped with chips and loam. The 
roof is also raised by beams laid across from the extreme angles, or 
corners, gradually rising from the four sides to the middle point at 
the top, (exactly likj a German barrack;) and then covered with 
boughs and earth. In this manner the barbarians, says this author, 
made their roofs to their towers." By the barbarians, he means 
the inhabitants of Europe, at the time when he wrote these re- 
marks, which was in the reign of Julius Caesar, a short time before 
Christ. The Phrygians, who inhabit a champaign country, being 
destitute of timber, select natural hills, excavate them, dig an en- 
trance, and widen the space within as much as the nature of the 
place will permit ; above, they fix stakes in a pyramidal form, bind 
them together, and cover them with reeds or straw, heaping there- 
on great piles of earth. This kind of covering renders them very 
warm in winter and cool in summer. Some also cover the roofs 
of their huts with weeds of lakes ; and thus, in all countries and 
nations, primeval dwellings are formed upon similar principles." — 
Blake's Atlas, p. 145. 

The circular, square, and oblong form of foundations, found in 
the west, would seem to argue, the houses built thereon to be made 
in the same way this author has described the mode of building in 
his time among the barbarous nations ; and also furnishes reason to 
believe them to have been made here in America, much in the same 
ages of the world. 

Having this knowledge of the mode of ancient building, we are 
led to the conclusion, that the town which we have just given an 
account of, was a clan of some of the ancient Celtic nations, who, 
by some means, had found their way to this part of the earth, and 
had fixed their abode in this secluded valley. Celtic or Irish, as 
Mr. Morse says, who were derived from Gaul, or Galatia, which is 
now France, who descended from Gomer, one of the sons of Ja- 
pheth, a son of Noah ; to whose descendants Europe, with its isles, 
was given. And whether the people who built this town were of 
Chinese or of Celtic origin, it is much the- same ; because if we go far 
enough back in ages of past time, we shall find they were of the 
same origiu, and had equal opportunities to perpetuate a remembrance 
of the arts, as known among men immediately after the flood, and 
might therefore resemble each other in their works. 

Here we may suppose the gods Odin, Thor, and Friga, were 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 89 

adored under the oaks composing American forests, as taught by 
the Druids ; here their victims, the deer and buffalo, sent up to the 
skies their smoking odour, while the priests of the forests invoked 
the blessing of the beneficent Being upon the votaries of the mys- 
tic Misleto. Here were the means of mutual defence and safety 
discussed ; the sighs of the lover breathed on the winds ; parents 
and children looked with kindness on each other; soothed and 
bound the wounds of such as returned from the uncertain fate of 
clanular battles ; but have been swept with the besom of extermi- 
nation from this vale, while no tongue remains to tell the story of 
their sufferings. 

At the distance of about three miles higher up, and nottfar from 
the Muskingum, says Mr. Ash, he perceived an eminence very 
similar to the one just described, in which the brass chain was 
found, to which he hastened, and immediately perceived their like- 
ness in form. 

On a comparison of the two, there could be but one opinion, 
namely, that both were places of lookout for the express protection 
of the settlement in the valley. He says he took the pains of clear- 
ing the top of the eminence, but could not discover any stone or 
mark which might lead to a supposition of its being a place of inter- 
ment. The country above was hilly, yet not so high as to intercept 
the view for a presumed distance of twenty miles. . 

On these eminences the " beacon fires " of the clan, who resided 
in the valley, may have been kindled at the hour of midnight, to 
show those who watched the portentous flame, the advance or de- 
struction of an enemy. Such fires, on the heights of Scotland, were 
wont to be kindled in the days of Bruce and Wallace, and ages 
before their time, originated from the Persians, possibly, who wor- 
shipped in this way the great Or amaze, as the god who made all 
things. The idea of a Creator, was borrowed from Noah, who re- 
ceiyed the account of the creation from Seth, who had it from. 
Adam ; and Adam from the Almighty himself. 

From this excursion our traveller, after having returned to Mari- 
etta, pursued his way to Zanesville, on the Muskingum river 
where, learning from the inhabitants that the neighborhood was 
surrounded with the remains of antiquity, he proceeded to the ex- 
amination of them, having obtained a number of persons to accom- 
pany him with the proper implements of excavation. They perie- 



100 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

trated the woods in a westerly direction, to a place known to those 
who accompanied him, about five miles distance, where the ruins 
of ancient times were numerous and magnificent in the highest 
degree ; consisting of mounds, barrows and ramparts, but of sueh 
variety and form, and covering so immense a track of ground, that 
it would have taken at least ten days to have surveyed them 
minutely. 

These immense works of the ancients, it appears, were, in this 
place, encompassed by outlines of an entirely different shape from 
any other described, being of the triangular form, and occupying 
the whole plain, situated as the one before described, in a place 
nearly surrounded by mountains. 

But we pass over many incidents of this traveller, and come im- 
mediately to the object of his research, which was to open such of 
those mounds as might attract his attention. His .first operation 
was to penetrate the interior of a large barrow, situated at one ex- 
tremity of the vale, which was its southern. Three feet below the 
surface was fine mould, underneath which were small flat stones, 
lying in regular strata or gravel, brought from the mountain in the 
vicinity. This last covered the remains of a human frame, which 
fell into impalpable powder when touched and exposed to air. 

Toward the base of the barrow, he came to three tier of sub- 
stances, placed regularly in rotation. And as these formed two rows 
four deep, separated by little more than a flag stone between the 
feet of one and the head of another, it was supposed the barrow 
contained about two thousand skeletons, in a very great state of de- 
cay, which shows their extreme antiquity. 

In this search was found a well carved stone pipe, expressing a 
bear's head, together with some fragments of pottery of fine tex- 
ture. Near the centre of the whole works, another opening wasl 
affected, in a rise of ground, scarcely higher than a natural undu- 
lation, common to the general surface of the earth, even on ground 
esteemed to be level. But there was one singularity accompany- 
ing the spot, which attracted the attention of the company, and this 
was, there was neither shrub nor tree on the spot, although more 
than ninety feet in circumference, but was adorned with a multi- 
tude of pink and purple flowers. 

They came to an opinion that the rise of ground was artificial, 
and as it differed in form and character from the common mounds , 



AICD DISeOVlRIES IN TH1 WEST. 101 

they resolved to lay it open, which was soon done, to a level with 
the plain, but without the discovery of any thing whatever. But 
as Ash had become vexed, having found nothing to answer his ex- 
pectations in other openings on the spot, he jumped from the bank, 
in order to take a spade and encourage the men to dig somewhat 
deeper. At this instant the ground gave way, and involved the 
whole company in earth and ruin, as was supposed, for the moment ; 
but was soon followed by much mirth and laughter, as no person 
was hurt by the fall, which was but about three feet. 

Ash had great difficulty to prevail on any person to resume the 
labor, and had to explore the place himself, and sound it with a 
pole, before any man would venture to aid him further, on account 
of their fright. 

But they soon resumed their courage, and on examination found 
that a parcel of timbers had given way, which covered the orifice 
of a square hole seven feet by four, and four feet deep. That it 
was a sepulchre, was unanimously agreed, till they found it in vain 
to look for bones, or any substances similar to them, in a state of 
decomposition. They soon, however, struck an object which would 
neither yield to the spade, nor emit any sound ; but persevering 
still further, they found the obstruction, which was uniform through 
the pit, to proceed from rows of large spherical bodies, at first 
taken to be stones. 

Several of them were cast up to the surface ; they were exactly 
alike, perfectly round, nine inches in diameter, and of about twenty 
pounds weight. The superfices of one, when cleaned and scraped 
with knives, appeared like a ball of base metal, so strongly im- 
pregnated with the dust of gold, that the baseness of the metal it- 
self was nearly altogether obscured. On this discovery, the cla- 
mour was so great, and joy so exuberant, that no opinion but one 
was admitted, and no voice could be heard, while the cry of " 'tis 
gold ! 'tis gold !" resounded through the groves. 

Having to a man determined on this important point, they formed 
a council respecting the distribution of the treasure, and each indi- 
vidual, in the joy of his heart, declared publicly the use he intend- 
ed to make of the part alloted to his share. 

The Englishman concluded that he would return to England, be- 
ing sure, from experience, that there was no country like it. A 
German of the party said, he would never have quitted the Rhine, 



103 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

had he had money enough to rebuild his barn, which was blown 
down by a high wind ; but that he would return to the very spot 
from whence he came, and prove to his neighbors that he loved 
his country as well as any man, when he had the means of doing 
well. An Irishman swore a great oath, the day longer he'd stay 
in America ; and the Indian who accompanied Ash, appeared to 
think, that were he to purchase some beads, rum and blankets, and 
return to his own nation, he might become Sachem, and keep the 
finest squaws to be found. 

Even Ash himself saw in the treasure the sure and ample means 
of continuing his travels in such parts of the earth as he had not 
yet visited. The company returned to Zanesville with but one 
ball of their riches, while they carefully hid the residue, till they 
should subject it to the ordeal of fire. 

They soon procured a private room, where 3 while it was receiv- 
ing the trial of fire, they stood around in silence almost dreading 
to breathe. The dreadful element, which was to confirm or con- 
sume their hopes, soon began to exercise its various powers. In a 
few moments the ball turned black, filled the room with sulphurous 
smoke, emitted sparks and intermitted flames, and burst into ten 
thousand pieces; so great was the terror and suffocation, that all 
rushed into the street, and gazed on each other, with a mixed ex- 
pression of doubt and astonishment. 

The smoke subsided, when they were able to discover the ele- 
ments of the supposed gold, which consisted of some very fine 
ashes, and a great quantity of cinders, exceedingly porous ; the 
balls were nothing but a sort of metal called spririte or pyrites, and 
abounds in the mountains of that region. 

The triangular form of this enclosure, being different from the 
general form of those ancient works, is perhaps worthy of notice, 
merely on the account of its form; and might be supposed to be of 
Chinese Origin, as it is well known that the triangular shape is a 
favorite one of the nations of Hindostan ; it is even in the Hindoo 
theology, significant of the Trinity, of their great Brahmah, or god ; 
and on this account, might even characterise the form of national 
works such as we have just described, under the notion, that the 
divine protection would the more readily be secured. " One of the 
missionaries at Pekin," says Adam Clarke, "takes it for granted, 
that the mystery of the Trinity was known among the ancient Chi- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 103 

nese, as that this A character was its symbol. It is remarkable that 
Moses and the prophets, the ancient Chaldee Targumists, the au- 
thors of the Zend Avesta, a Chinese book, Plato, a celebrated phi- 
losopher of antiquity, who died at Athens, 348, B. C, and also the 
first philosopher of Greece, and Philo the Jew, should all coincide 
so perfectly in their ideas of a Trinity in the Godhead. This could 
not be the effect of accident. Moses and the prophets received 
this from God himself; and all others have' borrowed from this first 
origin." 

For what use the balls of which we have given an account were 
designed, is impossible to conjecture, whether to be thrown by 
means of engines, as practised by the Romans, as an instrument of 
warfare, or a sort of medium in trade, or were used as instruments, 
in athletic games, either to roll or heave, who can tell ? 

But one thing respecting them is not uncertain, they must have 
been of great value, or so much labor and care would not have 
been expended to secure them. Colonel Ludlow, of Cincinnati, a 
man, it is said, who was well versed in the history of his country, 
though now deceased, was indefatigable in his researches after the 
antiquities of America, discovered several hundreds of those balls 
of pyrites, weighing generally about twenty pounds each, near an 
old Indian settlement, on the banks of the Little Miami, of the 
Ohio, and also another heap in an artificial cave, on the banks of 
the Sciota, consisting of copper pyrites, or quartz. 

In that division of South America, called Patagonia, which ex- 
tends nearly to the extreme southern point of that country, is found 
a people, denominated Patagonians, who are' of a monstrous size 
and height, measuring from six to seven feet, many of them ap- 
proaching to eight. Among this people is found an instrument of 
war, made of heavy stones, wore round by friction ; so that in ap- 
pearance, they are like a cannon ball. These they contrive to 
fasten in a sling, from which they throw them with great dexterity 
and force.— Morse'' s Geo. 

This kind of ball was used, though of a smaller size, to capture 
and kill animals with. The manner of using them, is as follows : 
They take three of those balls,, two of them three inches, and one 
of them two inches in diameter. The hunter takes the small ball 
in his right hand, and swings the other two, (which are connected 
by a. thong of a proper length, fastening also to the one in his hand) 



104 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

round his head, till a sufficient velocity is acquired, at the same 
time taking aim, when it is thrown at the legs of the animal he is 
pursuing, in such a manner as to entangle its feet by the rotary mo- 
tion of the balls ; so that its capture is easy. 

Conjecture might go on to establish it as a fact, that these balls 
of pyrites, found in many parts of the west, were indeed a war- 
like instrument, thrown by a sling, out of which, a force almost 
equivalent to that of powder, might be acquired ; and from the top 
of mounds, or from the sides of their elevated forts, such a mode of 
defence would be very terrible. 

This mode of righting was known to the Hebrews. David slew 
Goliath with a stone from a sling. Seven hundred chosen men out 
of Gibea, could sling a stone at an hair's breadth. Job speaks of 
this manner of annoying wild beasts, where he is recounting the 
strength of Leviathan : " Slinged stones are turned with him into 
stubble." 

Dr. Adam Clarke's observations on the use and force of the sling, 
are very interesting, and pertinent to the subject. They are found 
in his Commentary, 1st. Samuel, chap. xvii. verse 40, u The sling, 
both among the Greeks and Hebrews, has been a most powerful, 
offensive weapon. It is composed of two strings and a leather 
strap ;" (or as among the Patagonians, of raw-hide/) " the strap is 
in the middle, and is the place where the stone or bullet lies. The 
string on the right end of the strarj is firmly fastened to the hand ; 
that on the left, is held between the 'thumb and middle joint of the 
fore finger. It is then whirled two or three times round the head ; 
and when discharged, the finger and thumb let go their hold of the 
string. The velocity and force of the sling is in proportion to the 
distance of the strap to where the bullet lies, from the shoulder 
joint. Hence, the ancient Balleares, or inhabitants of Majorca and 
Minorca, islands in the Mediterranean Sea, near the coast of Spain, 
are said to have had three slings of different lengths ; the longest 
they used when the enemy was at the greatest distance ; the mid- 
dle one on their nearer approach, and the shortest, when they came 
into the ordinary fighting distance in the field. The shortest is the 
most certain, though not the most powerful. 

" The Balleareans are said to have one of their slings constantly 
bound about their head ; to have used the second as a girdle ; and 
to have carried the third always in their hand. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 105 

*' In the use of the sling, it requires much practice to hit the 
mark ; hut when once this dexterity is acquired, the sling is nearly 
^as fatal as the ball thrown by the explosion of powder. 

" David was evidently an expert marksman ; and his sling gave 
him greatly the advantage over Goliah ; an advantage of which 
the giant does not seem to have been aware. He could hit him 
within any speaking distance ; if he missed once, he had as many 
chances as he had stones ; and after all, being unincumbered with 
armor, young and athletic, he could have saved his life by flight. 
But David saved himself the trouble of running away, or the giant 
from throwing his spear or javelin at him, by giving him the first 
blow. 

" Goliah was terribly armed, having a spear, a shield, and a sword; 
'besides, he was every where invulnerable, on account of his hel- 
met of brass, his coat of mail, which was made also of brass, in 
little pieces, perhaps about the size of a half dollar, and lapped over 
each other, like the scales of fishes, so that no sword, spear, nor ar- 
row could hurt him." 

This coat of mail, when polished and bright, must have been 
very glorious to look upon, especially when the sun, in his bright- 
ness, bent his beams to aid the giant warrior's fulgent habiliments 
to illumine the field of battle, as the wearer strode, here and there, 
among the trophies of death. 

The only spot left, where he could be hit to advantage, was his 
broad giant forehead, into which the stone of David sunk, from its 
dreadful impetus [received from the simple sling. To some, this 
has appeared perfectly improbable ; but we are assured by ancient 
writers, that scarcely any thing could resist the force of the sling. 

Diodorus Siculus, an historian who flourished in the time of 
Julius Caesar, a short time before Christ, and was born in the island 
of Sicily, in the Mediterranean, says, " the people of the islands of 
Minorca and Majorca, in time of war, could sling greater stones 
than any other people, and with such force, that they seemed as if 
projected from a capult," an engine used by the ancients for this 
purpose. 

Therefore, in assaults made on fortified towns, they grieviously 
wound the besieged, and in battle, they break in pieces the shields, 
helmets, and every species of armor, by which the body is de- 
fended. It would seem, from the expertness* of the Patagonians, 

14 



106 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

J 

evinced in the use of the sling, that they may have been derived 
from the ancient inhabitants of those islands, who could as easily 
have found their way out of the Mediterranean by the Strait of 
Gibralter into the Atlantic Ocean, and be driven across to South 
America, by the winds from the east, or by the current of the. sea, 
as the Egyptians, as we have before shown. 

The sling was a very ancient warlike instrument ; and in the 
hands of those who were skilled in the use of it, it produced as- 
tonishiDg effects. The people of the above named islands were the 
most celebrated slingers of antiquity. They did not permit their 
children to eat till they had struck down their food from the top of 
a pole, or some distant eminence. 

Concerning the velocity of the leaden ball thrown out of the 
sling, it is said by the ancients, to have melted in its course. Ovid, 
the Roman poet, has celebrated its speed, in the following beauti- 
ful verse : 

" Hermes was fired, as in the clouds he hung ; 
So the cold bullet that with fury slung 
From Balearic engines, mounts on high, 
Glows in the whirl, and burns along the sky." 

This is no poetic fiction. Seneca, the stoic philosopher of Rome, 
born A. D. 12, says the same thing ; " the ball projected from the 
sling, melts, and is liquified by the friction of the air, as if it were 
exposed to the action of fire." 

Vegetius, who lived in the 14th century, and was also a Roman, 
tells us, that " slingers could, in general, hit the mark at six hun- 
dred feet distance," which is more than thirty rods. From this 
view we see what havoc the western nations, using the sling or 
engine, to throw stones from their vast forts and mounds with, must 
have made, when engaged in defensive or offensive war. 



DISCOVERY OF THE REMAINS OF ANCIENT POTTERY. 

On the subject of pottery we remark, that the remains of this 
art are generally found, especially of any extent, in the nighbor- 
hood of salt springs. It is true, that specimens of earthen ware 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 107 

are frequently taken out of the ancient barrows of the dead, and 
also are frequently brought to sight on the shores of rivers, where 
the earth has been suddenly removed by inundations. 

A few years since, an instance of this sort occurred at Tawanda, 
in Pennsylvania. The Susquehannah had risen very high, at the 
time we are speaking of, and had undermined the bank on the 
Tawanda shore, to a considerable extent, at the high water mark. 
On the receding of the waters, the bank was found to be carried 
away for the distance of about six rods, when there appeared sev- 
eral fire places, made of the stones of the river, with vessels of 
earthen, of a capacity about equal with a common water pail, in a 
very good state of preservation. 

Between those fire places, which were six in number, were 
found the skeletons of several human beings, lying in an undis- 
turbed position, as if they, when living, had fallen asleep, and ne- 
ver waked ; two of these, in particular, attracted attention, and 
excited not a little surprise ; they were lying side by side, with 
the arm of one of them under the neck of the other, and the feet 
were mingled in such a manner as to induce the belief that when 
death came upon them, they were asleep in each other's embraces. 
But in what manner they came to their death, so that they appear- 
ed not to have moved, from the fatal moment till the bank of Ta- 
wanda was carried away, which had covered them for ages, is 
strange indeed. 

It cannot be supposed they died all at once, of some sickness, 
or that an enemy surprised them while sleeping, and, silently pass- 
ing from couch to couch, inflicted the deadly blow ; because, in any 
of these ways, their bones, in the convulsions of' dissolution, must 
have been deranged, so that the image and peaceful posture of 
sleepers could not have characterised their positions, as they were 
found to have. It was conjectured, at. the time of their discov- 
ery, that the period of their death had been at the season of the 
year when that river breaks up its ice ; in March or April, the riv- 
er they supposed, may have been dammed up below them, where, it 
is -true, the stream narrows oh the account of the approach of the 
mountains. Here the ice having jammed in between, caused a 
sudden rise' of the river, and setting back, overflowed them. 

But this cannot be possible, as the noise of the breaking ice would 
never allow them to sleep ; this operation of nature is accompanied 



108 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

with a tremendous uproar and grandeur, tearing and rending tne 
shores and forests that grow on them, multiplying crash on crash? 
with the noise of thunder. Neither can it be well supposed, the 
waters came over them in the way suggested, even if they had 
slept during the scene we have just described, beeause on the first 
touch of the waters to their bodies, they would naturally spring 
from their sleep in surprise. 

Something must have happened that deprived them of life and 
motion in an instant of time. This is not impossible, because at 
Herculaneum and Pompeii, are found, where, in digging, they have 
penetrated through the lava down to those ancient cities, laying 
bare streets, houses and temples, with their contents, such as have 
survived the heat which ruined those cities — skeletons, holding 
between their fingers something they had in their hands at the 
moment of their death, so that they do not appear even to have 
struggled. ' 

Something of the same nature, as it respects suddenness, must 
have overtaken these sleepers ; so that their natural positions were 
not disturbed. If the place of their dwellings had been skirted by 
a steep bank or hill, it might then have been supposed that a land 
slip or mine spring, had buried them alive, but this is not the case. 
They were about four feet under ground, the soil which covered 
them was the same alluvial with the rest of the flat ; it is a myste- 
ry, and cannot be solved, unless we suppose an explosion of earth, 
occasioned by an accumulation of galvanic principles, which, burst- 
ing the earth near them, suddenly buried them alive. 

Dr. Beck, the author of the Gazetteer of Illinois and Missouri,. 
suggests the cause of the earthquakes in the valley of the Missis- 
sippi, in 1811 and 1812, which, in many places, threw up in an 
instant vast heaps of earth, to have been the principle of galvan- 
ism bursting from the depths beneath, in a perpendicular direction, 
overwhelming, in a moment of time, whatever might be asleep or 
awake, wherever it fell. 

Further down the Susquehannah, some thirty or forty miles be- 
low Tawanda, at a place called the Black-walnut Bottom, on the 
farm of a Mr. Kinney, was discovered a most extraordinary speci- 
men of pottery. 

Respecting this discovery, the owner of the farm relates, as we 
are informed by a clergyman, who examined the article on the 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 109" 

spot, though in a broken state, that soon after the first settlements 
on that river, and especially on that farm, a great freshet took place 
which tore a channel in a certain direction across the flat, when 
the vessel which we are about to describe, was brought to light. 

It was twelve feet across the top, and of consequence, thirty-six 
feet in circumference, and otherwise of proportionable depth and 
form. Its thickness was three inches, and appeared to be made of 
some coarse substance, probably mere clay, such as might be found 
on the spot, as it was not -glazed. Whoever its makers were, they 
must have manufactured it on the spot where it was found, as it 
must have been impossible to move so huge a vessel. They may 
have easily effected its construction, by building it up by degrees^ 
with layers put on in' succession, till high enough to suit the enor- 
mous fancy of its projectors, and then by piling wood around, it 
might have been burnt so as to be fit for use, and then propped up 
by stones, to keep it from falling apart. 

But who can tell for w r hat use this vast vessel was intended ? 
Conjecture here is lost, no ray of light dawns upon this strange rem- 
nant of antiquity. One might be led to suppose, it was made in 
imitation of the great Laver in the court of Solomon's Temple, 
which was seventeen feet two inches in diameter, and fifty two 
feet six inches in circumference, and eight feet nine inches deep. — 
2 Chron. iv. 2. 

The discovery of this vast specimen of earthen ware, is, at any 
rate, a singularity, and refers to some age of the world when the in- 
habitants used very large implements of husbandry. If there had 
been in its neighborhood a salt spring, as there are often found 
farther west, we should not be at a loss to know for what purpose 
it was constructed. 

Remarkable specimens of pottery are often brought up from very 
great depths at the salt works in Illinois. Entire pots of a very 
large capacity, holding from eight to ten gallons, have been disin- 
terred at the amazing depth of eighty feet ; others have been found 
at even greater depths, and of greater dimensions. — Schoolcraft. 

Upon this subject, this author makes the following remarks: u If 
these antique vessels are supposed now to lie in those depths where 
they were anciently employed, the surface of the Ohio, and con- 
sequently of the Mississippi, must have been sixty or eighty 
feet lower than they are at present, to enable the saline water to 



110 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

drain off; and the ocean itself must have stood at a lower level, or 
extended in an elongated gulf up the present valley of the Mis- 
sissippi." 

Many are of the opinion, that much of this region of country 
once lay beneath large lakes of water, and that the barriers between 
them and the ocean, by some means, are broken down, when a 
rush of water swept the whole country, in its ecurse to the sea, 
burying all the ancient nations, with their works, at those depths 
beneath the surface, as low as where those fragments of earthen 
ware are found. The bottom of those lakes is also supposed to be 
the true origin of the immense prairies of the west ; and the rea- 
son why they are not, long since, grown over with forest trees, is 
supposed to be because, from the rich and mucky soil found at the 
bottom of those lakes, a grass of immense length, (ten and four- 
teen feet high,) peculiar to the prairies, immediately sprung up 
before trees could take root, and therefore hindred this effort of 
nature. And as a reason why forest trees have not been able to 
gain upon the prairies, it is alledged, the Indians barn annually these 
boundless meadows, which ministers to their perpetuity. Some of 
these praries are hundreds of miles in length and breadth, and in 
burning over, present, in the night, a spectacle too grand, sublime 
and beautiful for adequate description ; belting the horizon with a 
rim of fire, the farthest ends of which seem dipped in the immeas- 
urable distance, so that even contemplation, in its boldest efforts, is 
swallowed up and rendered powerless. 



A CATACOMB OF MUMMIES FOUND IN KENTUCKY. 

Lexington, in Kentucky, stands nearly on the site of an ancient 
town, which was of great extent and magnificence, as is amply 
evinced by the wide range of its circumvallatory works, and the 
quantity of ground it once occupied. 

There is connected with the antiquities of this place, a catacomb, 
formed in the bowels of the limestone rock, about fifteen feet be- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. Ill 

low the surface of the earth, adjacent to the town of Lexington. 
This grand object, so novel and extraordinary in this country, was 
discovered in seventeen hundred and seventy-rive, by some of the 
first settlers, whose curiosity was excited by something remarkable 
in the character of the stones which covered the entrance to the 
cavern within. They removed these stones, and came to others of 
singular appearance for stones in a natural state ; the removal of 
which laid open the mouth of a cave, deep, gloomy, and terrific^ 
as they supposed. 

With augmented numbers, and provided with light, they de- 
scended, and entered, without obstruction, a spacious apartment ; 
the sides and extreme ends were formed into nitches and compart- 
ments, and occupied by figures representing men. When alarm 
subsided, and the sentiment of dismay and surprise permitted fur- 
ther research and enquiry, the figures were found to be Mummies, 
preserved by the art of embalming, to as great a state of perfec* 
tion, as was known among the ancient Egyptians, eighteen hundred 
years before the Christian era; which was about the time the 
Israelites were in bondage in Egypt, when this art was in its highest 
state of perfection. 

Unfortunately for antiquity, science, and every thing else held 
sacred by the illumined and learned, this inestimable discovery was 
made at a period when a bloody and inveterate war was carried on 
between the Indians and the whites ; and the power of the natives 
was displayed in so savage a manner, that the whites were filled 
with revenge. Animated by this vindictive spirit, the discoverers 
of the catacomb, delighted to wreak their vengeance even on the 
mummies, supposing them to be of the same Indian race with whom 
they were at war. 

They dragged them out to the open air, tore the bandages open, 
kicked the bodies into dust, and made a general bonfire of the most 
ancient remains antiquity could boast. The descent to this cavern 
is gradual, the width four feet, the height seven only, and the 
whole length of the catacomb was found to be eighteen rods and a 
half, by six and a half; and calculating from the nitches and shelve 
ings on the sides, it was sufficiently capacious to have contained at 
least two thousand subjects. 

I could never, says Mr. Ash, from whose travels we have taken 
this account, learn the exact quantity it contained ; the answers to 



112 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

the inquiries which he made respecting it were, " ! they burnt 
up and destroyed hundreds !" Nor could he arrive at any knowl- 
edge of the fashion, manner, and apparel of the mummies, or re- 
ceive any other information than that they " were well lapped wp," 
appeared sound, and consumed in the fire with a rapid flame. But 
not being contented with the uncertain information of persons, 
who, it seems, had no adequate knowledge of the value of this dis- 
covery, he caused the cavern to be gleaned for such fragments as 
yet remained in the nitches, on its shelving sides, and from the 
floor. The quantity of remains thus gathered up, amounted to for- 
ty or fifty baskets, the dust of which was so light and pungent as 
to affect the eyes even to tears, and the nose to sneezing, to a troub- 
lesome degree. 

He then proceeded on a minute investigation, and separated from 
the general mass, several pieces of human limbs, fragments of 
bodies, solid, sound, and apparently capable of eternal duration. 
In a cold state they had no smell whatever, but when submitted to 
the action of fire, gave out an agreeable effluvia, but was like noth- 
ing in its fragrance to which he could compare it. 

On this subject, Mr. Ash has the following reflections : " How 
these bodies were embalmed, how long preserved, by what nations, 
and from what people descended, no opinion can be formed, nor 
any calculation made, but what must result from speculative fancy 
and wild conjecture. For my part, I am lost in the deepest igno- 
rance. My reading affords me no knowledge \ my travels no light. 
I have neither read nor known of any of the North American In- 
dians who formed catacombs for their dead, or who were acquaint- 
ed w T ith the art of preservation by embalming. 

The Egyptians, according to Herodotus, who flourished 450 
years before Christ, had three methods of embalming ; but Diodo- 
rus, who lived before Christ, in the time of Julius Caesar, observes, 
that the ancient Egyptians had a fourth method of far greater rupe- 
riority. That method is not described by Diodorus ; it had become 
extinct in his time ; and yet I cannot think it presumptuous to con- 
ceive that the American mummies were preserved after that very 
manner, or at least with a mode of equal virtue and effect." 

The Kentuckians asserted, that the features of the face and the 
form of the whole body were so well preserved, that they must have 
been the exact representations of the once living subjects. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- 113 

This cavern indeed is similar to those found in Egypt, where 
the once polished and powerful inhabitants bestowed their dead, 
wrapped up in the linens^spices and aromatics of the east. It is 
probable the cave where these were found was partly natural and 
partly artificial; having found it suitable to their purpose, they had 
opened a convenient descent, cleared out the stones and rocks, and 
fitted it with nitches for the reception of those they had embalmed. 
This custom, it would seem, is purely Egyptian, and was prac- 
tised in the earliest age of their national existence, which was 
about two thousand years before Christ. Catacombs are numerous 
all over Egypt, vast excavations under ground, with nitches in 
their sides for their embalmed dead, exactly such as the one we 
have described. 

Shall we be esteemed presumptuous, if we hazard the opinion 
that the people who made this cavern and filled it with the thou- 
sands of their embalmed dead were, indeed, from Egypt ? If they 
were not, whither shall we turn for a solution of this mystery ? To 
what country shall we travel ? where are the archieves of past ages, 
that shall shed its light here ? 

If the Egyptians were indeed, reckoned as the first of nations ; 
for so are they spoken of, even in the Scriptures : if from them was 
derived the art of navigation, the knowledge of astronomy, in a 
great degree, also the unparalleled invention of letters, (from whom 
it is even probable the Fhcenecians derived the use of letters,) with 
many other arts, of use to human society ; such as architecture, 
agriculture, with the science of government, &c; why not allow 
the authors of the antiquated works about Lexington, together with 
the immense catacomb, to have been, indeed, an Egyptian Colony; 
seeing the art of embalming, which is peculiarly characteristic of 
that people, was found there in a state of perfection not exceeded 
by the mother country itself. 

A trait of national practices so strong and palpable, as is this pe- 
culiar art, should lead the mind, without hesitation, to a belief, that 
wherever the thing is practised, we have found in its authors either 
a colony direct from Egypt, or the descendants of some nation of 
the countries of Africa acquainted with the art. 

But if this be so, the question here arises, how came they in 
America, seeing the nearest point of even South America approach- 
es no nearer to the nearest point of Africa, than about seventeen 

15 



114 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

hundred miles ? Those points are, first, on the American side, Cape 
St. Roque ; and, second, on the African side, Cape de Verd. 

But such is the mechanism of the globe, and the operation of the 
waters, that from the west coast of Africa there is a constant cur- 
rent of the sea setting toward South America ; so that if a vessel 
were lost, or if an eastern storm had driven it far into the ocean, or 
South Atlantic ; it would naturally arrive at last on the American 
coast. This is supposed to have been the predicament of the fleet 
of Alexander the Great, some hundred years before the Christian 
era, as we have before related. 

The next inquiry to be pursued, is, whether the Egyptians were 
ever a maritime people, or rather, anciently so, sufficient for our pur- 
pose? 

By consulting ancient history, we find it mentioned that the 
Egyptians, as early as fourteen hundred and eighty-five years be- 
fore Christ, had shipping, and that one Danus, with his fifty daugh- 
ters, sailed into Greece, and anchored at Rhodes ; which is three 
thousand, three hundred and eighteen years back from the present 
year, 1S33. Eight hundred and eighty-one years after the landing 
of this vessel at Rhodes, we find the Egyptians, under the direc- 
tion of Necho, their king, fitting out some Phoenicians with a ves- 
sel, or fleet, with orders to sail from the Red Sea, quite around the 
continent of Africa, and to return by the Mediterranean, which 
they effected. 

It is easy to pursue the very tract they sailed, in order to circum- 
navigate Africa ; sailing from some port on the Red Sea, they pass 
down to the Strait of Babelmandel, into the Indian Ocean ; thence 
south, around the Cape of Good Hope, intojhe South Atlantic; — 
thence north along the African coast on the west side, which would 
carry them along opposite, or east of South America. 

Pursuing this course, they would pass into the Mediterranean at 
the Strait of Gibraltar, and so on to Egypt, mooring at Alexandria, 
on the south end of the Mediterranean ; a voyage of more than six- 
teen thousand miles ; two thirds of the distance round the earth. 
Many ages after their first settlement in Egypt, they were the lead- 
ing nation in maritime skill and other arts. 

It is true, that a knowledge of the compass and magnet, as aids 
to navigation, in Africa or Europe, was unknown in those early 
ages ; but to counterbalance this defect, they were, from necessity, 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- 115. 

much more skilful m a knowledge of the heavenly bodies, as guides 
So their courses, than men are at the present day. But in China, it 
as now believed, that a .knowledge of the magnet, and its applica- 
tion to the great purposes of navigation, was understood before the 
time of Abraham, more than two thousand years before Christ, of 
which we shall give a more particular account in another place of 
this work. 

But if we cannot allow the Egyptians to have visited South 
America, and all the islands between, on voyages of discovery, 
which by no means can be supposed chimerical, we are ready to 
admit they may have been driven there by an eastern storm ; and 
as favoring such a circumstance, the current which sets from the 
African coast toward South America, should not be forgotten. 

If it be allowed that this mode of reasoning is at all conclusive, 
the same will apply in favor of their having first hit on the coast of 
the West Indies, as this group of islands, as they now exist, is much 
more favorable to a visit from that particular part of Africa, called 
Egypt, than is South America. 

Egypt and the West Indies are exactly in the same latitude, that 
is, the northern parts of those islands, both being between twenty 
and thirty degrees north. 

Sailing from Egypt, out of the Mediterranean, passing through 
the Straits of Gibraltar would throw a vessel, in case of an eastern 
storm, aided by the current, as high north as opposite the Bahama 
islands. A blow of but a few days in that direction, would be quite 
sufficient to have driven an Egyptian vessel, or boat, or whatever 
they may have sailed in, entirely on to the coastof the West Indies. 
The trade winds sweep westward across the Atlantic, through a 
space of 50 or 60 degrees of longitude, carrying every thing with 
in their current directly to the American coast. 

If such may have been the case, they were, indeed, in a manner, 
on the very continent itself, especially, if the opinion of President 
Jefferson and others be allowed, that the Gulf of Mexico, which is 
situated exactly behind those islands, west, has been scooped out 
by the current which makes from the equator toward the north. 

Kentucky itself, where, we think, we have found the remains of 
an Egyptian colony, or nation, as in the case of the works and 
catacomb at Lexington, is in latitude but five degrees north of 
Egypt. So that whether they may have visited America on a voy- 



116 



AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



age of exploration, or have been driven on the coast against theit 
will ; in either case, it would be perfectly natural that they should 
have established themselves in that region. 

Traits of Egyptian manners were found among many of the na- 
tions of South America, mingled with those who appeared to be of 
other origin ; of which we shall speak again in the course of this 
work. 

But at Lexington the traits are too notorious to allow them to be 
other than pure Egyptian, in full possession of the strongest com- 
plexion of their national character, that of embalming, which was 
connected with their religion. 

The Mississippi, which disembogues itself into the Mexican 
Gulf, is in the same north latitude with Egypt, and may have, by 
its likeness to the Egyptian Nile, invited those adventurers to pur- 
sue its course, till a place suited to their views or necessities may 
have presented. 

The ancient Punic, Phoenician, or Carthagenian language, is all 
the same; the characters called Punic, or Phoenician, therefore, 
are also the same. A fac simile of those characters, as copied by 
Dr. Adam Clarke, are herewith presented. See No. 4. 

No. 4. 






WMSffifr 



. f . No. 5. 

They were discovered in the island of Malta, in the Mediterra- 
nean, which was anciently inhabited by the Phoenicians, long be- 
fore the Romans existed as a nation. These characters were found 
engraved on a stone, in a cave of that island, in the year 1761, 
which was a sepulchral cave, so used by the earliest inhabitants. 
These characters, being found in this ancient repository of the dead, 
it is believed, marks the place of the burial of that famous Cartha- 
genian general, Hannibal, as they explicitly allude to that char- 
acter. The reading in the original is as follows : 



AJfD DISCOVEKIES IK THE WEST. 117 

" Chadar Beth olam kabar Chanibaal Nakeh becaleth haveh, 

4 

racbm daeh Am beshuth Chanilaal ben Bar melee" 

Which, being interpreted, is: " The inner chamber of the sanc= 
tuary of the sepulchre of Hannibal, illustrious in the consummation 
of calamity. He was beloved. The people lament, when array- 
ed in order of battle, Hannibal the son of Bar-Melee." 

This is one of the largest remains of the Punic or Phoenician 
language now in existence. Characters of this description are also 
found on the rocks in Dighton, Massachusetts, near the sea. 

In a chain of mountains between the rivers Oronoco and Ama- 
zon, South America, are found engraved in a cavern, on a block of 
granite, characters supposed also to be Punic letters. 

A fac simile of which is presented at No. 5. These were fur- 
nished by Baron Humboldt, in his volume of Researches in South 
America ; between which and those given us above, by Dr. Clarke, 
it is easy to perceive, a small degree of similarity. 

But if the Phoenician letters, shown at Nos. 4 and 5, are highly 
interesting, those which follow, at Nos. 1, 2, and 3, are equally so. 
These are presented to tbe public by Professor Rafinesque, in his 
Atlantic Journal, for 1832, with their meaning.. 

Under figures 1 and 2, are the African or Lybian characters, the 
primitive letters of the most ancient nations of Africa. Under 
figure 3, are the American letters, or letters of Otolum, an ancient 
city, the ruins of which are found in South America, being so far, 
as yet explored, of an extent embracing a circumference "of twenty- 
four miles, of which we shall again speak in due time. 

The similarity, which appears between the African letters and 
the letters of America, as in use perhaps two thousand years before 
Christ, is almost, if not exact, showing, beyond a doubt, that the 
same nations, the same languages, and the same arts, which were 
known in ancient Lybia or Africa, were also known in. America ; 
as well also as nations from old China, who came to the western 
coast in huge vessels, as we shall show in this work. 

We here subjoin an account of those characters, numbered. 1, 2, 3, 
by the author, Prof. Rafinesque ; and also of the American Glyphs, 
which, however, are not presented here ; they are, it appears, 
formed by a combination of the letters numbered 1, 2, 3, and rer 
sembling very much, in bur opinon, the Chinese characters, when 



118 



AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



grouped, or combined, with a view to express a sentence or a para- 
graph, in their language. The account is as follows : 

LYBIAN. AMERICAN. 

No. 1. 2. 3. 



Ear 



AIPS. 



Eye. ESH. 
Nose. IFR. 
Tongue. OMBR 
Hand. VULD. 
Earth. LAMBD 
Sea. MAH. 



Air. 



NISP. 



Fire RASH. 
Sun. BAP 
Moon. CEK. 
Mars. DOR. 
Mer'y GOREG. 
Venus. UAF. 
Saturn. SIASH. 
Jup'r THEUE 



A. 
E. 
I. 

0. 
U. 
L. 
M. 

N. 
P. 

Bp. 
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Letter to Mr. Champollion, on the Graphic Systems of America, 
and the Glyphs o/Otolumo/Palenque, in Central America. — 
Elements of the Glyphs. 

I have the pleasure to present you here, a tabular and compara- 
tive view of the Atlantic alphabets of the two Continents, with a 
specimen of the Groups of Letters or Glyphs of the monuments 
of Otolum or Palenque: which' belong to my seventh series of 
graphic signs, and are in fact words formed by grouped letters or 
elements as in Chinese characters, or somewhat like the cypher* 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 11# 

dow yet in use among us, formed by acrostical anagrams or combi- 
nations of the first letters of words or names. 

When I began my investigation of these American Glyphs, and 
became convinced that they must have been groups of letters, I 
sought for the Elementary Letters in all the ancient known alpha- 
bets, the Chinese Sanscrit and Egyptian above, all ; but in vain. 
The Chinese characters offered but few similarities with these 
glyphs, and not having a literal but syllabic alphabet, could not 
promise the needful clue. The Sanscrit alphabet and all its de- 
rived branches, including even the Hebrew, Phoenician, Pelagic, 
Celtic and Cantabrian alphabets were totally unlike in forms and 
combinations of grouping. But in the great variety of Egyptian 
form of the same letters, I thought that I could trace some resem- 
blance with our American glyphs. In fact, I could see in them 
the Egyptian cross, snake, circle, delta, square, trident, eye, 
feather, fiish, hand, &c, but sought in vain for the birds, lions, 
sphynx, beetle, and 100 other nameless signs of Egypt. 

However, this first examination and approximation of analogy in 
Egypt and Africa was a great preliminary step in the enquiry. I 
had always believed that the Atlantes of Africa have partly colo- 
nized America, as so many ancient writers have affirmed ; this be- 
lief led me to search for any preserved fragments of the alphabets 
of Western Africa, and Lybia, the land of the African Atlantes yet 
existing under the names of Berbers, Tuarics, Shelluhs, &c. This 
was no easy task. The Atlantic antiquities are still more obscure 
than the Egyptian. No Champollion had raised their veil ; the 
city of Farawan a the Thebes of the Atlantes, whose splendid ruins 
exist as yet in the Mountains of Atlas, has not even been described 
properly as yet, nor its inscriptions delineated. 

However, I found at last in Gramay (Africa Illustrata) an old 
Lybian alphabet, which has been copied by Purchas, in his collec- 
tion of old alphabets. I was delighted to find it so explicit, so well 
connected with the Egyptian, being also an acrostic alphabet, and 
above all, to find that all its signs were to be seen in the Glyphs of 
Otolum. Soon after, appeared in a supplement to Claperton and 
Denham's travels in Africa, another old and obsolete Lybian alpha- 
bet, not acrostical, found by Denham in old inscriptions among the 
Tuarics of Targih and Ghraat, west of Fezan : which, although un- 



120 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

like the first, had many analogies, and also with the American 
glyphs. 

Thinking, then, that I had found the primitive elements of these 
glyphs, I hastened to communicate this important fact to Mr. Du- 
ponceau (in a printed letter directed to him in 1828) who was 
struck with the analogy, and was ready to confess that the glyphs 
of Palenque, might be alphabetical words ; although he did not 
believe before that any American alphabets were extant. But he 
could not pursue my connection of ideas, analogies of signs, lan- 
guages and traditions, to the extent which I desired and now am 
able to prove. 

To render my conclusions perspicuous, I must divide the subject 
into several parts: directing my enquiries, 1st. on the old Lybian 
alphabet. 2dly. On the Tuaric alphabet. 3dly. On their ele- 
ments in the American glyphs. 4thly. On the possibility to read 
them. While the examination of their language, in connection 
with the other Atlantic languages, will be the theme of my third 
letter. 

I. The old Lybian delineated in the Table No. 1, has all the ap- 
pearance of a very ancient alphabet, based upon the acrostical plan 
of Egypt; but in a very different language, of which we have 16 
words preserved. This language may have been that of a branch 
of Atlantes, perhaps the Getulians (GE-TULA, or Tulas of the 
plains) or of the Ammonians, Old Lybians, and also Atlantes. 

Out of these 16 words, only 5 have a slight affinity with the 
Egyptian, they are- 
Nose Ifr. L. Nif. E. 
Sea Mah Mauh. 
Saturn Siash Sev. 
Venus Uaf Ath. 
Ear Aips Ap. 
While this Lybian has a greater analogy with the Pelagic dia- 
lects, as many as 12 out of 16 being consimilar. 

Eye Esh L. Eshas P. 

Nose Ifr Rinif. 

Hand Vuld Hul, Chil. 

Earth Lambd Landa, 

Sea Mah Marah, 

Fire Rash Purah ? 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 121 



Moon 


Cek 


Selka, Kresj 


Mars 


Dor 


Hares ? Thor. 


Mercury 


Goreg 


Mergor, 


Venus 


Uaf 


Uenas, 


Saturn 


Siash' 


Satur, Shiva 


Jupiter 


Theue 


Theos. 



Therefore, the numerical analogy is only 32 per cent, with the 
Egyptian, while it is 75 per cent, with the Pelagic. Another 
proof, among many, that the ancient Atlantes were intimately con- 
nected with the Pelagian nations of Greece, Italy, and Spain ; but 
much less so with the Egyptians, from whom they however bor- 
rowed perhaps their graphic system. 

This system is very remarkable. 1. By its acrostic form. 2. 
By having only 16 letters like most of the primitive alphabets, but 
unlike the Egyptian and Sanscrit. 3. By being susceptible of 22 
sounds by modification of 6 of the letters, as usual among the 
Pelagian and Etruscan. 6. Above all, by being based upon the 
acrostics of 3 important series of physical objects, the 5 senses re- 
presented by their agents in man, the 4 elements of nature and the 
7 planets : which are very philosophical ideas, and must have origi- 
nated in a civilized nation and learned priesthood. 5. By the 
graphic signs being also rude delineations of these physical objects 
or their emblems. The ear, eye, nose, tongue and hand, for the 5 
senses. The triangle for the earth, fish for the sea or water, snake 
for the air, flame for fire. A circle for the sun, crescent for the 
moon, a sword for Mars, a purse for Mercury, the V for Venus, 
double ring for Saturn, and trident for Jupiter. t Venus being the 
5th planet, has nearly the same sign as U, the 5th letter. 

These physical emblems are so natural and obvious, that they 
are sometimes found among many of the ancient alphabets ; the 
sun and moon even among the Chinese. But in the Egyptian 
alphabets, the emblems apply very ©ften to different letters, owing 
to the difference of language and acrostic feature. Thus the hand 
applies to D in Egyptian instea.d of U, the eye to R, the circle to 
O, the snake to L, &c. 

II. The second Lybian alphabet No. 2, in the tables, was the 
ancient alphabet of Tuarics, a modern branch of the Atlantes,, until 
superseded by the Arabic. Denham found, with some difficulty, its 
import, and names of letters which are not acrostic but literal, and 

16 



122 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

IS in number. It is doubtful whether these names were well ap- 
plied in all instances, as the explainer was ignorant, and Denhami 
not aware of the importance of this alphabet. Some appear not 
well named, and U with V have the same sign W ; but these are 
always interchangeable in old language, and in alphabet No. 1, 
Vis called UAF instead of VAF, and U is VULD instead of UULD I 

As we have it, this alphabet is sufficiently and obviously derived 
from the first, 11 out of the 16 letters being similar or nearly so, 
while only 5 are different, E, M, R, G and Z. This last appears 
the substitute of TH, of No. 1, and GH represents G. Yet they 
are by far more alike than the Demotic is from the Hieratic Egyp- 
tian, and I therefore deem this No. 2 a Demotic form of the ancient 
Lybian or Atlantic. 

I might have given and compared several other Lybian alphabets* 
found in inscriptions ; but as they haye been delineated without a 
key or names,, it is at present very difficult to decypher them. I 
]aowevei ? recommend them to the attention of the learned, and a- 
mong others, point out the Lybian inscription of Apollonia, the har- 
bor of Cyrene, given by Lacella, in his travels in the Cyrenaica. 
The letters of this inscription appear more numerous than 16 or 
even 22, and although they have some analogies with the 2 Lybian 
alphabets, yet approximate still more to the Demotic of Egypt and 
the Phoenician. But the inscriptions in Mount Atlas and at Fara- 
wan, when collected and decyphered, will be found of much great- 
er historical importance. 

III. Meantime in the column No. 3 of the tabular view, are giv- 
en 46 Elements of the Glyphs of Otolum (see page 307, where 
there is a fac simile of these glyphs) or Palenque, a few of these 
glyphs being given also in column No. 4. These 46 elements 
are altogether similar- or derived from the Lybian prototypes of 
No. 1 and 2. In some cases they are absolutely identic, and the 
conviction of their common origin- is almost complete, particularly 
when taken in connection with the collateral proofs of traditions 
and languages. These elements are somewhat involved in the 
grouping, yet they may easily be perceived anbl separated. Some- 
times they are ornamented by double lines or otherwise, as monu- 
mental letters often are. Sometimes united to outside numbers 
represented by long ellipses meaning 10, and round dots meaning 
unities, which approximates td the Mexican system of graphic mi- 



AND DISC0TERIES IN THE WEST. 123 

titration. Besides these 46 elements, some others may be seen in 
the glyphs, which I left off, because too intricate ; although they 
appear reducible, if a larger table could have been given. There 
is hardly a single one that may not be traced to these forms, or that 
baffles the actual theory. Therefore, the conclusion must occur, 
that such astonishing coincidence cannot be casual, but it is the re- 
sult of original derivation. 

The following remarks are of some importance ; 

1. The glyphs of Otolum are written from top to bottom, like 
the Chinese, or from side to side, indifferently, like the Egyptian 
and the Demotic Lybian of No. 2. We are not told how No. 1 
was written, but probably in the same way. Several signs were 
used for the same letter as in Egypt. 

2. Although the most common way of writing the groups is in 
rows, and each group separated, yet we find some framed, as it 
were, in oblong squares or tablets like those of Egypt. See plate 
12, of the work on Palenque by Delrio and Caberera. In that 12th 
plate there are also some singular groups resembling our musical 
notes. Could they be emblems of songs or hymns ? 

3. The letter represented by a head occurs frequently ; but it is 
remarkable that the features are very different from those of the re- 
markable race of men or heroes delineated in the sculptures. 

4. In reducing these elements to the alphabetical form, I have 
been guided by the more plausible theory envolved by similar 
forms. We have not. here the more certain demonstration of Bil- 
ingual inscriptions ; but if the languages -should uphold this the- 
ory, they certainly will be increased of the Atlantic origins of 
Otolum. 

IV. But shall we be able to read these glyphs and inscriptions, 
without positively knowing in what language they were written ? 
The attempt will be arduous, but it is not impossible. In Egypt, 
the Coptic has been found such a close dialect of the Egyptian, that 
it has enabled you to read the oldest hieroglyphs. We find among 
the ancient dialects of Chiapa Yucatan andGuatimala,the branches 
of the ancient speech pf Otolum. • Nay, Otolum was perhaps the 
ancient TOL or TOLA, seat of the Toltecas, (people of Tol,) and 
their empire ; but this subject will belong to my third letter. I 
will now merely give a few attempts to read some of the groups. 
For instance : . * • 



124 » AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

1 . The group or word on the seat of the sitting man of plate 4 
of monuments of Palanque, I read UOBAC, being formed by a 
hand, a tongue, a circle, an ear, and a crescent. It is perhaps his 
name. And and underneath the seat is an eye with a small circle 
inside, meaning EB. 

2. In plate 5, is an eye with two annexed rings, meaning proba- 
bly BAB, and perhaps the Sun, which is BAP in the Lybian alphabet. 

3. In plate 7, the glyph of the corner with a head, a fish, and a 
crescent, means probably KIM. 

4. The first glyph of page 15, is probably BLAKE. 

5. I can make out many others reading ICBE, BOCOGO, POPO, 
EPL, PKE, &c. 

If these words and others (although some may be names) can 
be found in African languages, or in those of Central America, we 
shall obtain perhaps the key of the whole language of Old Otolum. 
And next reach, step by step, to the desirable knowledge of reading 
those glyphs, which may cover much historical knowledge of high 
import. Meantime I have opened the path, if my theory and con- 
jectures are correct, as I have strong reasons to believe. 

Besides this monumental alphabet, the same nation that built 
Otolum had a Demotic alphabet belonging to my 8th series ; which 
which was found in Guatimala and Yucatan, at the Spanish con- 
quest. A specimen of it has been given by Humboldt in his Amer- 
ican Researches, plate 45, from the Dresden Library, and has been 
ascertained to be Guatimalan instead of Mexican, being totally un- 
like the Mexican pictorial manuscripts. This page of Demotic has 
letters and numbers, these represented by strokes meaning 5, and 
dots meaning unities, as the dots never exceed 4. This is nearly 
similar to the monumental numbers. 

These words are much less handsome than the monumental 
glyphs ; they are also uncouth glyphs in rows formed by irregular or 
flexuous heavy strokes, inclosing within small strokes, nearly the 
same letters as in the monuments. It might not be impossible to 
deeypher some of these manuscripts written on metl paper : since 
they are written in languages yet spoken, and the writing was un- 
derstood in Central America, as late as 200 years ago. If this is 
done, it will be the best clue to the monumental inscriptions. 

C. S. RAFINESQUE. 

Philadelphia , Febuary^ 1832. 



AN© DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 125 

This letter as above, strongly corroborates our supposition, that 
the authors of the embalmed mummies found in the cave of Lex- 
ington, were of Egyptian origin. 

See Morse's Geography, p. 500, and the Western Gazeteer, p, 
103, states that several hundred mummies were discovered near 
Lexington, in a cave, but were wholly destroyed by the first settlers, 



A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF WESTERN ANTIQUITIES, WITH 
ANTEDILUVIAN TRAITS. 

Cincinnati is situated on one of those examples of antiquity, 
of great extent. They are found on the upper level of that town, 
but none on the lower one. They are so conspicuous as to catch 
the first range of the eye. 

There is every reason to suppose, that, at the remote period of 
the building of these antiquities, the lowest level formed part of 
the bed of the Ohio. A gentleman who was liviDg near the town 
of Cincinnati, in 1826, on the upper level, had occasion to sink a 
well for his accommodation, who presevered in digging to the depth 
of 80 feet without finding water, but still persisting in the attempt, 
his workmen found themselves obstructed by a substance, which 
resisted their labor, though evidently not stone. They cleared the 
surface and sides from the earth bedded around it, when there ap- 
peared the stump of a tree, three feet in diameter, and two feet 
high, which had been cut down with an axe. The blows of the 
axe were yet visible. 

It was nearly of the color and apparent character of coal, but 
had not the friable and fusible quality of that mineral; teu feet be- 
low, the water sprang up, and the well is now in constant supply 
and high repute. 

Reflections on this discovery are these, first ; that the tree was 
undoubtedly antediluvian. Second ; that the river now called the 
Ohio, did not exist anterior to the deluge, inasmuch as the re- 
mains of the tree were found firmly rooted, in its original position, 
several feet below the bed of that river. Third ; that America was 



126 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

peopled before the flood, as appears from the action of the axe, in 
cutting down the tree. Fourth ; that the antediluvian Americans 
were acquainted with the use and proprieties of iron, as the rust of 
the axe was on the top of the stump when discovered. 

And why should they not be acquainted with both its properties 
and utility, seeing it was an antediluvian discovery. Tubal Cain, 
one of the sons of Cain, the son of Adam, we find, according to 
Genesis iv. chap. 22d verse, was a blacksmith, and worked in iron 
and brass, more than a thousand years before the flood. 

It was about five hundred years from the creation, when Tubal 
Cain is noticed in the sacred history, to have been a worker in brass 
and iron ; but, says Dr. Clarke, the commentator, " although this is 
the first smith on record, who taught how to make warlike instru- 
ments and domestic utensils out of brass and iron, yet a knowl- 
edge of metal must have existed long before, for Cain was a tiller 
of the ground, and so was Adam, which they could not have been, 
without spades, hooks, &c." 

Tbe Roman plough was formed of wood, being in shape, like 
the anchor to a vessel ; the ploughman held to one fluke, so as to 
guide it, while the other entered the ground pointed with iron, and 
as it was drawn along by the stem, it tore the earth in a streak, 
mellowing it for the seed. 

Such, it is likely, was the form of the primitive plough, from 
which, in the progress of ages, improvements have been made, till 
the present one, as now formed, and is the glory of the well tilled 
field. 

According to this opinion, it would appear, that in the very first 
period of time, men were acquainted with the metals, and as they 
diverged from the common centre, which was near the garden of 
Eden, they carried with them a knowledge of this all-important 
discovery. 

If the stump is indeed antediluvian, we learn one important fact, 
and this is it ; America, by whatever name it was called before the 
deluge, was then a body of earth above the waters ; and also, was 
connected with Asia ; where, it is allowed on all hands, man was 
originated. 

If it were not connected with Asia, it might be inquired, how 
then came men in America, before the flood, the traits of whose in- 
dustry, and agricultural pursuits, are discovered in the felling of 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 127 

this tree, as well as a great number of other instances, of which we 
shall speak by and by ? 

It is not probable, that before the flood, there was so small a 
quantity of dry land on the earth as at the present time ; theNwa- 
ters of the globe being generally hid beneath the incumbent soil, 
so that an easy communication of all countries with each other ex- 
isted ; which must have greatly facilitated the progress of man in 
"peopling and subduing it." 

We know very well, it is said, "the gathering together of the 
waters, called He seas ;" but it does not follow, that they were not 
subterranean ; and it is more than intimated, that such was the fact 3 
when it is said, " all the fountains of the great deep were broken 
up," on the day the flood commenced. 

But by what means were they broken up, this is left to conjec- 
ture, as the Scriptures are higher in their aim, than the mere grati- 
fication of curious questions of this sort ; but in some way this was 
done. The very terms, " broken up," siguify the exertion of 
power and violence, of sufficient force to burst at once, whole con- 
tinents from the face of the deep, and also, to throw out, at one 
wide rush, the central waters of the globe. 

. But can we conceive of any means made use of to effect this, 
other than the direct pressure of God's power, sinking the earth to 
the depths beneath, so that the water might rise above, taking the 
place of the land ? We imagine we can. 

It is well known, the velocity of the earth, in its onward motion, 
round the sun, is about twenty miles a second, nearly the speed of 
lightning. Let Him, therefore, who at first imposed this incon- 
ceivable velocity, stop the earth in this motion, suddenly ; what 
would the effect be ? All the fluids, that is, the waters, whether 
above ground or underneath it, would rush forward, with a power 
equal to their weight, which would be sufficient to burst away 
mountains, or any impediment whatever ; and rushing round the 
globe, from the extreme western point, rolling one half of the 
mighty flood over this side of it, and the other half over the anti- 
pode on the other side, which is relatively beneath us, till the two 
half worlds of water should meet at the extreme east, where heap- 
ing up, by their force, above a common level, would, gradually, 
roll back to their original places, as the earth should again go for- 



AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 128 

Ward ; this is our opinion of the way how " all the fountains of the 
great deep were broken up." 

If the earth were to be arrested in its course now, the effect 
would be the same. Suppose we illustrate the position, for a mo- 
ment. Place a vessel of water on a plank, for instance, open on 
the top, like a common bowl, fastened to the plank, so that it should 
not be liable to overcast. Cause this plank to move, at first slowly, 
but increase its steady, onward velocity, as much as the fluid will 
bear, without causing a re-action ; when, therefore, its utmost 
speed is obtained, stop it suddenly ; the effect would be, the water 
in the vessel would instantly fly over, leaving the bowl behind. 
Such, therefore, we imagine would be the effect, if the earth were 
now caused to stand suddenly still, in its orbit ; except this differ- 
ence, the law of gravitation would prevent the waters of the earth 
from leaving the surface, but would cause a rapid current in the 
direction the earth is pursuing. 

That the waters of the deluge came from the west, is evident 
from the manner in which the various strata of the earth are situat- 
ed, over the whole of our country ; and that its motion was very 
violent, is also evident from the appearance of native or primitive 
rock, being found on the top of that which is of secondary forma- 
tion, and of gravel and sand in hills and smaller eminences, lying 
on beds of clay and soils of various kinds below it. 

The effects of the deluge can be traced in all the earth in this 
way, and particularly about Albany, Saratoga, and about the lakes, 
and to the east, showing the waters flowed in that direction. 

For a beautiful and able description of this subject, see Thomas' 
Travels, published at Auburn, under the head, " The Deluge." 

At the same time, the waters above the firmament, in the clouds, 
were permitted to burst downward, which, in its fall, subdivided 
into drops, as is natural ; so that one vast perpetual storm, for forty 
days and forty nights rushed with all the violence of a tornado, up- 
on the globe, quite around it, by which, in so short a time, the 
highest hills were buried fifteen cubits deep, and upward ; this is 
what we suppose is meant by the words " and the windows of 
heaven were opened." 

But it may be inquired, from whence did the lands receive wa- 
ter to furnish them with, so long a rain as a storm of forty days and 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THS WEST. I2» 

mights ; and from whence originated vapor enough to becloud the 
whole circumambient atmosphere of the earth at once. Surely, 
some cause more than existed before the flood, or since, must have 
transpired at that time, to have produced this great accumulation 
of clouds and rain. 

The answer is, we apprehend — that the central waters bursting 
suddenly from the great deep, involving the whole globe, presented 
a greater surface of that fluid to the rays of the sun, so that by its 
operation on the face of the waters, a dense mist or vapor was at 
once produced quite round the earth, which, in its ascent, carried 
up incessantly that quantity of water which furnished the atmos- 
phere for so long and so dreadful a storm, and justify the expression, 
" and the windows of heaven were opened." 

In this way the surface of the earth was ruined ; a disproportion- 
ate quantity of water, caused to appear on the surface, while in the 
same ratio the land is sunk to the depths below. 

Sixteen hundred years and rising, was the space of time allowed 
from the creation till the flood ; a time quite sufficient to people 
the whole earth, even if it were then enjoying a surface of dry 
land, twice as much as it does at the present time, being but about 
one-fourth ; and America, as appears from this one monument, the 
stump of Cincinnati, was a part of the earth which was peopled by 
the Antediluvians. 

The celebrated antiquarian, Samuel L. Mitchell, late of New- 
York, with other gentlemen, eminent for their knowledge of natu- 
ral history, are even of the opinion 3 that America was the country 
where Adam was created. In a letter to Governor De Witt Clin- 
ton, in which this philosopher argued the common origin of the 
people of America, and those of Asia, he says : " I avoid the op- 
portunity which this grand conclusion affords me, of stating, that 
America was the cradel of the human race ; of tracing its colonies 
westward over the Pacific Ocean, and beyond the sea of Kamschat- 
ka, to new settlements ; of following the emigrants by land and wa- 
ter, until they reached Europe and Africa. I had no inclination to 
oppose the current opinions relative to the place of man's creation 
and dispersion. I thought it was scarcely worth the while to in- 
form an European, that in coming to America, he had left the new 
world behind him, for the purpose of visiting the old." — America* 
Antq> Society, p. 33 1. 

17 



130 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

But this opinion cannot obtain, if we place the least reliance on 
the statement of Moses, in the Book of Genesis ; who gives a cir- 
cumstantial account of the place of man's creation, by stating the 
names of the very rivers, arising out of the regions of country cal- 
led Paradise ; such as Pison, Havilah, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Eu- 
phrates ; or as they now are called, Phasis 3 Araxes, Tigris, and Eu- 
phrates ; this last retains its original name- 
No such rivers are known in America, nor the countries through 
which they flow. Here are data to argue from, but the position, 
or rather the suggestion of Professor Mitchell, has absolutely no 
data whatever. If but a tradition, favoring that opinion, were found 
even among the Indians, it would afford some foundation ; but as 
their tradition universally alludes to some part of the earth, far 
away, from whence they came, it would seem exceedingly extra- 
vagant to argue a contrary belief. 

This one stump of Cincinnati, we consider surpasses in conse- 
quence, the magnificence of all the temples of antiquity, whose 
forsaken turrets, dilapidated walls, tottering and fallen pillars, which 
speak in language loud and mournful, the story of their ruin ; be- 
cause it is a remnant of matter, in form and fashion, such as it was, 
before the earth " perished by water," bearing on its top the in- 
dubitable marks of the exertion of man, of so remote a time. 

It is not impossible but America may have been the country 
where Noah built his ark, as directed by the Most High. 

We know very well, when the mind refers to the subject of 
Noah's Ark, our thoughts are immediately associated with Mount 
Ararat, because it rested there, on the subsiding of the flood. But 
this circumstance precludes a possibility of its having been built 
there , if we allow the waters of the deluge to have had any cur- 
rent at all. It is said in Genesis, that the Ark floated, or was 
borne upon the waters above the earth, and also, that the ark 
"went upon the face of the waters." From which fact we imagine 
there must have been a current, or it could not have went upon the 
waters. Consequently, it went from the place where it was built, 
being obedient to the current of the waters. 

Now, if it had been built any where in the country called Arme- 
nia, where the mountain Ararat is situated ; and as it is found the 
waters had a general eastern direction, the Ark in going on the face 
of the waters, would have, during the time the waters of the de- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 131 

luge prevailed, which was an hundred and fifty days, or five months, 
(that is, prevailed after the commencement of the deluge, till its 
greatest depth was effected ;) gone in an eastern direction as far 
perhaps as the region of the islands of Japan, beyond China, east, 
a distance of about six thousand miles from Ararat, which would 
be at the rate of about forty miles a day, or if it had floated faster, 
would have carried it into the Pacific Ocean. 

But if we may imagine it was erected in North America, or some 
where in the latitude of the State of New- York, or even farther 
west, the current of the deluge would have borne it easterly. And 
suppose it may have been carried at the rate of forty or fifty miles 
a day, would, during the time the waters prevailed, in which time, 
we may suppose, a current existed, have progressed as far as to 
Ararat; a distance of nearly six thousand miles from America, 
where it did actually rest. 

More than sixteen hundred years had elapsed, when the ark was 
finished, and it may fairly be inferred, that as Noah was born about 
one thousand years after the creation of the world, that mankind 
had from necessity, arisiug from the pressure of population, gone 
very far away from the regions round about Eden; and the coun- 
try where Noah was born may as well be supposed to have been 
America, as any other part of the earth ; seeing there are indubita- 
ble signs of antediluvian population in many parts of it. Unite 
this circumstance with that of the ascertained current of the deluge 
from America, and with the fact of the ark's having rested in an 
easterly direction from this country, we come to a conclusion, that 
here, perhaps in the very State of New- York, the miraculous ves- 
sel was erected, and bore away, treasured in its enormous capacity, 
the progenitors of the human race renewed. So that if America 
have not the honor of being the country where Adam was created, 
as is believed by some, it has nevertheless the honor, as we sup- 
pose, of being the country where the ark was erected. 

In Morse's Universal Geography, first volume, page 142, the dis- 
covery of this stump is corroborated : " In digging a well in Cin- 
cinnati, the stump of a tree was found in a sound state, ninety feet 
below the surface ;" and in digging another well, at the same place, 
another stump was found, at ninety-four feet below the surface 
which had evident marks of the axe ; and on its top there appeared 
as if some iron tool had been consumed by rust." 



232 JUtfERieAN ANTUUITrEf 

The axe bad, no doubt, been struck into the top of the stamps 
when the horrors of the deluge first appeared, in the bursting forth 
of the waters from above, that is from the windows of heaven ; — 
when sounds terrific, from the breaking forth of the waters of the 
great deep, and from the shock all sensitive beings must have felt 
when the earth was caused to stand still in its onward course round 
the sun, for the space perhaps of a day. Remember Joshua, at 
whose command and prayer, God stoppe4 the earth for the space of 
a whole day, but not in its onward course around the sun, but its 
diurnal motion only, which could not have any effect on the fluids 
of the earth, as the sudden interruption of the other motion would 
have had. 

Who would not flee, when phenomena so terrible, without 
presage or warning, were changing the face of things, and the 
feelings of the atmosphere ; the earth quivering like an aspen leaf; 
forests leaning to the east, and snapping asunder in one awful crash 
over all the wide wilderness; rocks with mountains tumbling 
from their summits; the stoutest heart would quail at such an hour 
as this ; an axe, with all things else, would be left by the owners, 
and a general flight, if they could stand at all on their feet, would 
take place, they knew not whither, for safety. 

In one of the communications of the admired Dr. Samuel L. 
Mitchell, Professor of Natural History, to the American Antiqua- 
rian Society, he mentions a certain class of antiquties as distin- 
guished entirely from those which are found in and about the 
mounds of the west, as follows: In the section of country about 
Fredonia, on the south side of Lake Erie, are discovered objects 
deservedly worthy of particular and inquisitive research. This 
kind of antiquities, present themselves on digging from thirty to 
fifty feet below the present surface of the ground. " They occur 
in the form of fire brands, split wood, ashes, coals, and occasionally 
tools and utensils, buried to those depths." This, it will be per- 
ceived, is much below the bed of Lake Erie, of consequence must 
have been antediluvian, and agrees with the discovery of the stumps 
at Cincinnati. " We are informed, that in Rhode Island, New 
Jersey, Maryland, North Carolina, and in Ohio, such discoveries 
have been made." He says, " I wish the members of the society 
would exert themselves with all possible diligence to ascertain and 
collect the facts of this description. They will be exceedingly cu- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. lM 

rious, both for the geologist and historian. After such facts shall 
have been collected and methodised, we may perhaps draw sorrie 
satisfactory conclusions ; light may possibly be shed upon the re- 
mote PelasgiaiiSj and upon the traditionary Atlantidies" the in- 
habitants of the Island, we have befere spoken of, Atalantes. 

Dut we cannot allow the discoveries made at this vast depth, to 
belong to any age, or to any of the works of man this side the de- 
luge, as that time enough has not elapsed since that catastrophe, to 
allow the decomposition of vegetables, nor of convulsions, to have 
buried these articles so deep beneath the surface extending over so 
great a tract of country. The draining of lakes, however sudden, 
could never have had so wide and universal an effect. 

It would seem, therefore, that we are compelled to refer them to 
the works of man beyond the flood, which, by the overflowing of 
the waters, and the consequent ruin of the original surface, these 
works, with their makers, have been thus buried in a tomb more 
dreadful to the imagination than the ordinary recepticles of the 
dead. 

In evidence, that the ocean, at some period in ages past, over- 
whelmed the American continent, we notice, from the " British- 
Spy," page 112, an account of the discovery of the skeleton of a 
whale, in Virginia : 

" Near Williamsburgh has recently been discovered, by a farm- 
er, while digging a ditch through a plat of ground, about five feet 
below the surface, a considerable portion of the skeleton of a whale. 
Several fragments of the ribs, and other parts, were found, with 
the whole of the vertebrae, or backbone, regularly arranged, and 
very little impaired as to figure. The spot where it was found is 
about two miles from James river, and about sixty from the sea. 
In the same region, at depths of from sixty to ninety and an hun- 
dred feet, have been found the teeth of sharks." In every region 
of the earth, as well as America, and on the highest mountains, 
are found the bones and shells of the ancient inhabitants of the sea. 
From the universality of those appearances, we conclude they were 
deposited and cast thither by the billows of the deluge. 

From the discoveries of articles of the utensil character, the bones 
of whales, the teeth of sharks, and the stumps of Cincinnati, at 
various depths, as stated above ; we are led to the conclusion, that 
the original surface, of what is now called America, was perhaps 



134 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

not much disturbed ; but was rather suddenly overwhelmed from 
the west, by the bursting forth of the subterranean Pacific, which, 
till then, had been covered with land, mountains and vales, thickly 
peopled. 

The vast depths of strata of loam, sand, clay, gravel, and stone, 
which lie over each other, evincing, from the unnatural manner of 
their positions, that they were thrown furiously, by the agent, wa- 
ter, over the whole continent, furnished from the countries of the 
west. 

If such may have been the fact, how dreary, sublime, and hor- 
rible, when we reflect upon the immensity of the antediluvian 
population, west of America, at once thrown, with all their works, 
their wealth, and power, rapidly along the dreadful current, run- 
ning east, broad as half the earth, crushed and mingled with the 
ruined world of their own country. Here it may be supposed at 
different depths, their broken bodies are buried, together with the 
antediluvians of America ; while above them, the towns, cities, 
and living world of the present times, are in full career. As we 
pass along, over the surface of the earth, whether for re-creation 
and to breathe the evening or the morning air; enjoying the 
pleasant promenade, or roll onward in the furious chariot ; to re- 
flect that this soil is the same once forming a part of the vast cover- 
ing of the Western Ocean ; and that far beneath us, the bodies of 
our elder brethern are sleeping, is sad and mournful. 

That such may indeed, have been the fact, is favored from the 
discovery of the whale's skeleton, found on James River, which 
could never have been deposited there by other means than the 
flood ; forced onward, till killed by the violence and agitation of 
the wood, stone, and earth encumbered waters, and sunk finally 
down, where it was recently discovered. 

The pottery of the ancient nations^ mentioned by Schoolcraft, 
found at the vast depth of eighty feet, and even at greater depths, 
at the great Saline in Illinois, is evidence of an antediluvian popu- 
lation in America. 

At Cincinnati there is a barrow or mound of human bones, situ- 
ated exactly on the edge of the bank, that overlooks the lower town, 
the principal street leading from the water is cut through it, and 
exposes its strata and remains to every person passing by. Seven 
tiers of skeletons lay plainly in sight, where the barrow had caved 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 135 

away, from its being undermined. Among the earth thus fallen 
down, were found several stone hatchets, pieces of pottery, and 
flute, made of the great bone of the human leg. This is a very 
curious instrument, with beautifully carved figures, representing 
birds, squirrels, and small animals, with perforated holes, in the old 
German manner, which, when breathed into, emitted tones of great 
melody. 

Among the modern Indians, no such instrument has ever been 
found. At the time when the street was opened through this bar- 
row of the dead, a great variety of interesting and valuable relics 
were brought to light ; among which were human double teeth, 
which, on a moderate calculation, bespoke men as large again as 
the present race. Also some brass rings, which were considered 
exceedingly curious ; an instance of which is similar to the one 
before mentioned in this work. Iron rings, as we have before 
mentioned, were anciently used among the Britons before the Chris- 
tian era, as money; and possibly in this case, the brass rings 
found in this barrow, may be a specimen of the ancient money of 
America. 



DISCOVERY OF AN IVORY IMAGE IN A BONE MOUND AT 

CINCINNATI. 

i 

In the same barrow of which I have been speaking, was disced 
vered an ivory image, which we consider more interesting, and 
surpasses any discovery yet mentioned. It is said to be now in the 
cabinet of rare collections, once in the possession of the illustrious 
Jefferson. 

The account of the image is as follows : It is seven inches high ; 
the figure full length ; the costume, a robe, in numberless folds, 
well expressed, and the hair displayed in many ringlets j the child 
naked, near the left breast, and the mother's eye bent on it with a 
strong expression of affection and endearment. 

There are those who think it a representation of the mother of 
our Lord's humanity, with the child Jesus, in her arms. The Ro- 



1$G AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

man Catholics have availed themselves of this image, and made it! 
a testimony of the antiquity of their religion, and of the extensive 
range of their worship, by attempting to prove thereby, that the idol 
was nothing less than a Madona and Child — the Virgin Mary, and 
the child Jesus; and that the Roman Catholic religion was the fast 
which arose in the earliest Christian age in the east, and the last 
which set in the west, where it became extiuct, by means of a 
second deluge. 

The idea, however, of a second deluge, is inadmissible, as it 
would have destroyed every vestige of the mounds, pyramids, tu- 
muli, and fortifications, of which this work treats ; many of which 
are supposed older than the Christian era ; and the mound in which 
the image itself was discovered would also have been destroyed. 

There is, however, another opinion, which is not impossible may 
have furnished the imagination with materials for the origin of such 
a representation. The image may be of Greek origin, and taken 
from Isaiah the Prophet, 7th chap. 14th verse, where it is said, — 
" Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son." This prophecy 
of Isaiah was known to the Greeks, for the Old Testament was 
translated into their language in the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus, 
kjng of Egypt, nearly three hundred years before the Christian 
era. See Adam Clarke's General Preface to the Old Testament, 
page 27, and is known as the Septuagint version. 

The Greek statuaries may, in this way, have easily found the 
beautiful and captivating idea of a virgin mother, by reading Isaiah 
in the Greek ; a work fraught with all the grandeur of images in-» 
spired by God himself, and could not fail to challenge the reading 
of every learned man of the empire, arid such were the statuaries, 
among the Greeks, the fame of whose exquisite skill in this respect, 
will go down on the historic page to latest time. 

From the Greeks' such an image, celebrating the idea of a vir- 
gin mother and her child, may have easily come into the possession 
of the Romans, as the Greeks were, soon after the translation of 
the Hebrew Scriptures into the Greek,' subdued by the Romans; 
who, in their conquests, here and there, over the earth, including 
Europe, England, Scotland, and the northern islands, carrying that 
kind of image with them as a god, or talisman,, and from thence to 
America. . . 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 137 

It is, however, not impossible, but it may be indeed of true Ro- 
man Catholic origin ; as at the time the Romans evacuated Europe, 
with its isles, Ireland, Eugland, &c, about the year 450, this church 
had risen to great importance in the Roman empire, which aided 
her to establish her altars in every country they had conquered. 
Consequently, long before the Scandinavians colonized Iceland, 
Greenland, and Labrador, on the American continent, the Christian 
religion was planted in the north of Europe ; first in France, in the 
year 496, and then soon after in England ; and so on farther nortji 
among the ancient Scandinavians, ^Norwegians, &c, and by these 
to Iceland and Greenland ; who may have also brought this trait of 
that church to America. 

The fort at Cincinnati is a circle, embracing about three acres, 
with a wall seven feet high, and twenty feet broad. At the back 
part of the upper level, at a distance from the circular fort, are two 
mounds of about twenty feet high. One of these, by cutting a 
trench from east to west, four feet wide, and at the depth of ten 
feet, came to some heavy stones, under which was a body of com- 
position resembling plaster of Paris. This broke with great diffi- 
culty, when there were exposed a few fragments of an adult human 
skeleton, placed on a bed of a similar nature with the covering. 

It was determined to . ascertain whether the monument was 
erected in memory of one person or more, the lower bed of hard 
substance was also broken through, and underneath a stratum of 
stones, gravel and earth, found the fragments of- another skeleton, 
consisting of one tibia, or. piece of the shin, two pieces of the thigh 
bone, and the right upper, with the left under jaw. 

This was the skeleton of a child, from which was derived the 
important fact, that this mound was not erected for one individual 
only, but also for the infant chief or king ; and that the nation who 
erected this mound, in which the child was buried, was governed 
by a line of hereditary chiefs or kings, as is evident from the nature 
and distinction of the interment of an infant ; who certainly could 
not have been an elected chief; the suffrages of a nation could ne- 
ver be supposed to elevate an infant as its king ; but if it succeed- 
ed by right of lineal descent, it might have- been their king, 
. The next relic of antiquity, discovered at Cincinnati, is a sphe- 
' rical stone, found on the fall of a large portion of the bank of the 
river It is a green stone, twelve inches in diameter,- divided into 

.18 



138 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

twelve sides, and each side into twelve equal parts, and each part 
distinguished by hieroglyphical engravings. 

This beautiful stone, it is said, is lodged in the cabinet of arts at 
Philadelphia. It is supposed the stone was formed for astronomi- 
cal calculations, conveying a knowledge of the movements of the 
heavenly bodies. 

Farther on in this work, is an account of a still more wonderful 
stone, covered with the engravings of the ancient nations, where a 
fac simile of the stone is preserved. 



A CAVERN OF THE WEST, IN WHICH ARE FOUND MANY 
INTERESTING HIEROGLYPHICS, SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN 
DONE BY THE ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 

On the Ohio, twenty miles below the mouth of the Wabash, is 
a cavern, in which are found many hieroglyphics, and representa- 
tions of such delineations as would induce the belief, that their au- 
thors were, indeed, comparatively refined and civilzed. 

It is a cave in a rock, or ledge of the mountain, which presents 
itself to view, a little above the water of the river when in flood, 
and is situated close to the bank. In the early settlement of Ohio, 
this cave became possessed by a party of Kentuckians, called " Wil- 
son's Gang." Wilson, in the first place, brought his family to this 
cave, and fitted it up, as a spacious dwelling, erected a sign-post 
on the water side, on which were these words, " Wilson's Liquor 
Vault, and House of Entertainment." 

The novelty of such a tavern, induced almost all the boats de- 
scending the river to call for refreshments and amusement. At- 
tracted by these circumstances, several idle, characters took up their 
abode at the cave, after which it continually resounded with the 
shouts of the licentious, the clamor of the riotous, and the blas- 
phemy of gamblers. v 

Out of such customers, Wilson found no difficulty in forming a 
band of robbers, with whom he formed the plan of murdering the 
crews of every boat that stopped at his tavern, and of sending 
the boats manned by some of his party, to New-Orleans, and there 
sell their loading for cash, which was to be conveyed to the cave 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 139 

by land, through the states of Tennessee and Kentucky ; the party 
returning with it being instructed to murder and rob, on all good 
occasions, on the road- 
After a lapse of time, the merchants of the upper country began 
to be alarmed, on finding their property make no returns, and their 
people never coming back. Several families and respectable men, 
who had gone down the river were never heard of; and the losses 
became so frequent, that it raised, at length, a cry of individual 
distress and general dismay. This naturally led to inquiry, and 
large rewards were offered for the discovery of the perpetrators of 
such unparalelled crimes-. 

It soon came out, that Wilson, with an organized party of forty- 
five men, was the cause of such waste of blood and treasure ; that 
he had a station at Hurricane Island, to arrest every boat that pass- 
ed by the mouth of the cavern, and that he had agents at Natchez 
and New-Orleans, of presumed respectability, who converted his 
assignments into cash, though they knew the goods to be stolen, or 
obtained by the commission of murder. 

The publicity of Wilson's transactions soon broke up his party ; 
some dispersed, others were taken prisoners, and he himself was 
killed by one of his associates, who was tempted by the reward 
offered for the head of the captain of the gang. 

This cavern measures about twelve rods in length, and five in 
width; its entrance presents a width of 80 feet at its base, and 25 
feet high. The interior walls are smooth rock. The floor is very 
remarkable, being level through the whole length of its centre, the 
sides rising in stony grades, in the manner of seats in the pit of a 
theatre. 

On a diligent scrutiny of the walls, it is plainly discerned, that 
the ancient inhabitants at a very remote period, had made use of 
the cave as a house of deliberation and council. The walls bear 
many hieroglyphics, well executed ; and some of them represent 
animals, which have no resemblance to any now known to natural 
history. 

This cavern is a great natural curiosity, as it is connected with 
another still more gloomy, which is situated exactly above, united 
by an aperture of about fourteen feet.; which, to ascend, is like pass- 
ing up a chimney, while the mountain is yet far above. Not long 
after the dispersion and arrest of the robbers, who had infested it, 



140 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

in the upper vault were found, the skeletons of about sixty persons, 
who had been murdered by the gang of Wilson, as was supposed. 
But the tokens of antiquity are still more curious and important, 
than a description of the mere cave, which are found engraved on 
its sides, within, an account of which we proceed to give. 

1st. The sun in different stages of rise and declension ; the moon 
under various phases ; a snake, biting its tail, and represents an 
orb, or circle ; a viper ; a vulture ; buzzards tearing out the heart 
of a prostrate man ; a panther, held by the ears, by a child ; a 
crocodile ; several trees and shrubs ; a fox; a curious kind of hydra 
serpent ; two doves ; several bears ; two scorpions ; an eagle ; an 
owl ; some quails ; eight representations of animals which are now 
unknown. Three out of the eight are like the elephant in all re- 
spects, except the tusk and the tail. Two more resemble the tiger, 
one a wild boar, another a sloth ; and the last appears a creature of 
fancy, being a quadrumane, instead of a quadruped, the claws 
being alike before and behind, and in the act of conveying some- 
thing to the mouth, which lay in the centre of the monster. Be- 
sides these were several fine representations of men and women, 
not naked, but clothed, not as the Indians, but much in the costume 
of Greece and Rome. 

We must at once perceive, that these objects, with an excep- 
tion or two, were empolyed by the ancient Greeks, to display the 
nature of the world, the omnipotence of God, the attributes of 
man, and the utility of rendering his knowledge systematic and 
immortal. 

All human sciences flourished among the Egyptians long before 
they were common to any other people ; the Grecians in the days 
of Solon, about six hundred^years before Christ ; Pythagoras, a"bout 
the same time ; Herodotus, between four and five hundred years 
before Christ, and Plato, a little later ; acquired in Egypt, all that 
knowledge of nature, which rendered them so eminent and remark- 
able. But the Egyptian priests' did not divulge their doctrines, 
but by the aid of signs, and figurative emblems. Their manner 
was to discover to their auditors, the mysteries of God and nature, 
in hieroglyphics ; which were certain visible shapes and forms of 
creatures, whose inclinations and dispositions led to the knowledge 
of the truths intended for instruction. All their divinity, philoso- 
phy, and their greatest secrets, were comprehended in these in- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST, 141 

genious characters, for fear they should be profaned by a familiar 
acquaintance with the commonalty. 

It requires but a rapid and cursory view of the hieroglyphics 
above enumerated, to convince us of design ; and also that the cav- 
ern wherein they are found engraved, was originally a place of 
worship, or of council. 

The sun, the most glorious of all visible beings, represented their 
chief god, and received their adoration, for causing all the vegeta- 
tion of the earth to bring forth its increase. 

2d. The moon denoted the next most beautiful object in the cre- 
ation, and was worshipped for her own peculiar usefulness ; and 
more particularly, for supplying the place of the departed sun. 

3d. The snake, in the form of an orb, or circle, biting its tail, 
pointed out the continual mutation of creatures, and the change of 
matter, or the perpetual motion of the world itself. If so, this con- 
struction of that hieroglyphic, the snake, agrees- with the Greek 
figure, of the same kind ; which implies that the world feeds upon 
itself, and receives from itself in return, a continual supply for 
renovation and nourishment ; the same symbol designated the year 
which revolves round, and ends where it first began, like the ser- 
pent with its tail in its mouth ; it is believed the ancient Greeks 
gave it this meaning. 

4th. The viper, the most venomous of all creatures, was the em- 
blem of the devil, or wicked angel ; for, as its poison is quick and 
powerful, so is the destroying spirit, in bringing on mankind evils, 
which can only be opposed by the grace and power of God. 

5th. The vulture, tearing out the bowels *of a prostrate man, 
seems a moral intending to reprove fierceness and cruelty. Dr. 
Rush says, this hieroglyphic represents intemperance, and by them 
was so understood. 

6th. The panther, held by the ears by a child, was meant to im- 
press a sense of the dominion of innocence and virtue over oppres- 
sion and vice ; or perhaps it bore the Greek meaning, of a wretch 
encompassed with difficulties, which he vainly attempts to avoid. 

7th. The crocodile, from its power and might, was another sym- 
bol of the Great Spirit ; or its being the v only creature without a 
tongue, might have given it a title to the same honor, all heathen 
nations concur in representing their gods, beholding and doing all 
things, in heaven and earth, in profound silence. 



142 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

8th. The several trees and shrubs were undoubtedly emblemat- 
ical of particular virtues, as represented in this temple, the cave, 
from a veneration for their aromatic and healing properties. Among 
the ancients, we know, that the palm tree and the laurel were em- 
blems of victory and deserved honor ; the myrtle, of pleasure ; 
the cedar, of eternity ; the oak, of strength ; the olive tree, of 
fruitfulness ; the vine, of delight and joy; and the lily, of beauty. 
But what those in the cave imply, it is not possible to determine, 
as nothing of their character can be deduced from the manner they 
were sketched on the surface of a rough wall, where the design is 
obscured by smoke, or nearly obliterated from the effect of damp, 
and the gradual decay of time. 

9th. The fox, from every authority, was put to denote subtlety 
and craftiness. 

10th. The hydra serpent probably singnified malice and envy, 
passions which the hieroglyphic taught mankind to avoid. 

11th. The two doves were hieroglyphics of constancy in love ; all 
nations agree in this, in admiring the attachment of doves. 

12th: The bears, it is apprehended, signify industry, labor and 
patience ; for the Indians believe the cubs of the bear come into 
the world with misshapen parts, and that their eyes, ears and other 
members are licked into form by the mother, who passes days in 
that anxious and unceasing employ. 

13th. The scorpions were calculated to inspire a detestation for 
malignity and vice ; even the present race of Indians hold these 
animals in great disgust, healing wounds inflicted by them with a 
preparation of their own blood. 

lith. The eagle represents, and is held to this day, as the em- 
blem of a great, noble, and liberal mind ; fierce in war, conquering 
the enemy, and protecting his friends ; he among the Indians, who 
can do this, is compared with the- eagle. 

15th. The owl must have been set up to deter men from deceit 
and hypocrisy. He cannot endure the light of the sun, nor can 
hypocrisy bear that of truth and sincerity. He may have been the 
emblem of death and wretchedness, as among the Egyptians ; or 
of victory and prosperity, when in a flying attitude, as among the 
Greeks. 

16th. The quails afford no clue to their hireoglyphic, unless they 
signify the corn seasoB, and point out the time for the usage of some 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 143 

particular rites and ceremonies of a religious nature. With the 
Greeks, they were emblematical of impiety, from a belief that they 
enrage and torment themselves when the crescent of the new moon 
appears. 

J7th. The representations of the larger animals, were doubtless, 
indicative of the power and attributes of the Great Spirit : The 
mammoth showing his greatness ; the tiger, his strength ; the boar, 
his wrath ; the sloth, his patience ; and the nondescript, his hidden 
virtues, which are past finding out. 

18th. The human figures are more definite, and afford inferences 
more certain, on account of the dress they are represented in ; 
which resembles the Roman ; the figures would be taken for Eu- 
ropean antiquities, were it not for the character and manner of the 
heads. 

The dress of these figures, consisting of, 1st. A carbasus, or rich 
cloak ; 2d. a sabucala, or waistcoat or shirt; 3d, a supparum, or 
breeches open at the knees ; 4th, solea, or sandals, tied across the 
toes and heels ; 5tb, the head embraced by a bandean crowned 
with feathers. 

19th. The dress of the females, carved in this cave, have a Gre- 
cian cast, the hair encircled by the crown, and was confined by a 
bodkin ; the remaining part of this costume was Roman. 1st : The 
garments called stolla, or perhaps the toga pura, flounced from the 
shoulders to the ground : 2d, an indusium appeared underneath : 
3d, the indusium was confined under the breast, by a zone or ces- 
tus : and, 4th, sandals, in the manner of those of the men. 

Could all this have been produced by the mere caprice of abori- 
ginal artizans — we think not ; they have, in this instance, either 
recorded their own manners, in the one particular of costume, or 
they have represented that of others, who had come among them 
as strangers, and wonderfully induces the belief, that such were 
Greeks, Romans, or some nation of the earth, whose mode of dress 
was similar. 

Viewed in the most critical manner, this instance of American 
antiquity cannot fail to excite in the mind surprise, when we con- 
trast this with the commonly received opinion, that Columbus was 
the first discoverer of this country. 

The hieroglyphic carved in this cave, which represents a child 
holding or leading a panther, brings forcibly to the mind a similar 



144 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

idea in the Hebrew Scriptures, in the book of Isaiah, chapter 14, 
6th verse, where it is said, the wolf, the leopard and the young lion 
shall be led by a child ; and relates to the period when both natu- 
ral and moral evil shall have no existence in the earthj as is be- 
lieved by some. 

In this cave, it appears, there are sketched on the rock the figures 
of several animals, now extinct ; among which are three, much 
resembling the elephant, the tail and tusks excepted. It would be 
passing the bounds of credulity to suppose the artists who delineat- 
ed those figures, would represent no less than eight animals, differ- 
ing in their configuration, one from the other, which had in reality 
no being, and such as these had never been seen. 

We suppose the animals resembling the elephant, to have been 
the mammoth, and that those ancients were well acquainted with 
the creature, or they could never have engraved it on the rock. 
Job, of the Scriptures, who was a native of the land of Uz, in Idu- 
mea, which is situated southwest of the lake Asphaltidese, or sea 
of Sodom, was also well acquainted with this animal. See Job, 
chapter 40 : " Behold now Behemoth, which I made with thee ; 
he eateth grass as an ox. Lo, now his strength is in his loins ; and 
his force in the navel of his belly. He moveth his tail like a 
cedar ; the sinews of his loins are wrapped together. His bones 
are as strong pieces of brass ; his bones are like bars of iron. He 
is the chief of the ways of God." 

Whoever has examined the skeleton of one of those animals, 
now in the Philadelphia museum, will acknowledge the bones are 
equal to bars of brass or iron. 

Its height over the shoulders, is eleven feet ; from the point of 
the nose to the end of the tail, following the exterior or curve, is 
twenty-one feet ; a single tooth weighs four pounds ten ounces. 
The rib bones are six inches in width, and in thickness three ; the 
whole skeleton as it is, with the exception of a few bones, weighs 
one thousand pounds. 

But how tremendous must that animal have been, to which the 
tooth weighing twenty-five pounds, found in the earth at Cincin- 
nati belonged, more than five times the dimensions of the one de- 
scribed above ; arguing, from proportion, that is, if a tooth belong- 
ed to a skeleton weighing one thousand pounds, was found to be 
four pounds ten ounces; a tooth weighing twenty-five pounds 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- 145 

would give a skeleton of more than five thousand pounds. And if 
the calculation be carried forward in this sort of proportion, we 
shall produce an animal more than forty feet high, and nearly an 
hundred in length, with a proportionable thickness. 

What would be the sensation, if we were to meet an animal of 
this sort in his ancient haunts ; it would almost appear a moving 
mountain ; but add to this, the enormous eyes of the animal, set at 
a frightful distance from each other, with an amplitude of forehead 
between, clothed like the side of a hill, with a forest of shaggy 
hair ; a mouth, gaping like some dreary cavern, set round with 
teeth surikient to crush a buffalo at a mouthful ; its distended nos- 
trils emitting vapor like the puffs of a steam boat, with a sound, 
when breathing, that might be heard afar ; the legs appearing in 
size of dimensions sufficient to bear a ship on his shoulders ; and 
his feet or paws spread out like a farmer's corn fan, armed with 
claws like flukes to an anchor of a vessel of war ; the tail, as it is 
said in Job, waving to and fro, like a cedar bending before the wind. 
But add to all this, anger ; let him but put his fierceness on, his 
eyes flash fire, his tail elevated aloft, lashing the ground, here and 
there, at a dreadful distance from his body ; his voice like the 
double rolling of thunder, jarring the wilderness ; at which every 
living thirg would tremble, and drop to the earth. Such an ani- 
mal would indeed be the " chief of the ways of God," it would be 
perfectly safe in the midst of a tornado in the wilderness ; no tree, 
or a forest of them, could possibly harm the monster by falling 
against it; it would shake thera off, as mere troublesome insects, as 
smaller animals do the flies in a summer's day. 

The one in Peale's museum, of which we have spoken, a page 
or two back, is one out of nine skeletons of this monster, which 
were dug out of the earth in the neighborhood of the Shongum 
mountain, in Ulster county, on the southwestern side of the State 
of New York, eight of which were sent to Europe. See Spafford's 
Gazeteer of New York. 

Near Rochester, in the State of New- York, in 1833, two teeth 
of this animal were discovered, but a small depth beneath the sur- 
face. They were found in the town of Perrinton, near Fullam's 
Basin, some time ago, by Mr. William Mann, who was engaged in 
digging up a stump. They were deposited about four feet below 
the surface of the earth. These were in a tolerably good state of 

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AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 147 

ri'ci as to proclaim at once, that they were formed by animals w&l 
lowing in them, after they had bathed and satiated themselves with 
the waters of the fountain ; these were the works of buffaloes, deer, 
and other small animals. 

But the same appearances are evident in some banks in the neigh- 
borhood, which were hollowed in a semicircular manner, from 
the action of beasts rubbing against them, and carrying off quanti- 
ties of the earth on their hides, forming a thick coat, to defend 
against the stings of numberless flies, like the rhinoceros of Africa. 
One of those scooped out hollow banks, appeared like the side of 
a hill from which an hundred thousand loads of soil might have 
been carried off; the height of the wasted bank, where it was 
affected by attrition, was at least twenty-five feet. The other ani- 
mals, being smaller, could get down and up again from their wal* 
lowing, with ease and quickness ; but the mammoths were com- 
pelled, from their size, to lean against some hill or mountain, so as 
to coat their hide with earth. 

]N'ear this spot are often found the frames of this animal, sunk in 
the mire. In the State of Missouri, between White River and 
Strawberry River, are certain ranges of mountains, at whose base, 
in a certain spot, are found " large quantities of these bones gather- 
ed in a small compass, which collection was doubtless occasioned 
by the appetite which these animals had for prey. Attracted in 
this way to these marshy places, they were evidently mired when 
they ventured too far in, and of course the struggles of the last one 
would sink the bones of his predecessor still deeper. Thus, these 
collections are easily accounted for, although, at first, it seems very 
strange to see these bones accumulated, like those of some of the 
extinct Indian tribes of the west." Beck's Gazetteer of Illinois 
and Missouri, page 332. 

Adam Clarke supposes the Behemoth to have been a carnivorous 
animal. See his remarks on this monster, in his Commentary on 
Job, 40th chapter, 15th verse : " The Behemoth, on the contrary, 
(i. e. in opposition to the habits of the hippopotamus and elephant,) 
is represented as a quadruped of a ferocious nature, and formed for 
tyranny, if not rapacity ; equally lord of the floods and of the 
mountains ; rushing with rapidity of foot, instead of slowness or 
stateliness ; and possessing a rigid and enormous tail, like a cedar 
tree, instead of a short naked tail of about a foot long, as the hip- 
popotamus, or a weak, slender, hog-shaped tail, as the elephant." 



14S AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Job gays, chap. 40th, verse 17th, that he (this monster) moveth 
his tail like a cedar, i. e. its motions were like those of a tall cedar 
tree moved slowly one way and the other by the wind ; which ex- 
plicitly and emphatically marks the monstronsness of this creature's 
size. " He moveth his tail like a cedar," slowly one way and the 
other ; exactly as the lion, the tiger, or the leopard, in the motions 
of this limb, especially when angry, or when watching for their 
prey ; on which account, it is probable, Job has seen fit to make 
mention of this peculiar motion of the animal ; and also it is an evi- 
dence of the overwhelming power or strength of the mammoth. 
He was, indeed, as it is said in Job, " the chief of the ways of 
God," in the creation of animals. 

At St. Helen's Point, north of Guayaquil, in the republic of Co- 
lombia, South America, on the coast of the Pacific, on the equator, 
are found the enormous remains of this animal. The Peruvian 
tradition of those bones is, that at this very point once landed, from 
some unknown quarter, of the earth, a colony of giants, who mutu- 
ally destroyed each other. At New Grenada, in the same pro- 
vince, and on the ridge of the Mexican Cordilleras, vast quantities 
of the remains of this huge beast are found.— Humboldt's Researches 
in South America. 

The remains of a monster, recently discovered on the bank of 
the Mississippi, in Louisiania, seventeen feet under ground, may 
be considered as the greatest wonder of the west. The largest 
bone, which was thought to be the shoulder blade, or jaw bone, is 
twenty feet long, three broad, and weighed twelve hundred pounds. 
The aperture in the vertebre,or place for the pith of the back bone, 
is six by nine inches caliber ; supposed, when alive, to have been 
an hundred and twenty-five in length. The awful and tremend- 
ous size of what this creature must have been, to which this shoul- 
der blade, or jaw bone, belonged, when alive, is almost frightful to 
think of. 

In President Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, we have the follow- 
ing, as the tradition of the Indians respecting this animal, which 
they call the big buffalo, and assert, tl*at he is carnivorous, as Dr. 
Clarke coutends, and still exists in the northern parts of America. 

" A delegation of warriors from the Beleware tribe, visited the 
government of Virginia, during the Revolution, on matters of busi- 
ness; after this had been discussed, and settled in council, the 
governor asked some questions relative to their country, and, among 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 149 

others, what they knew or had heard of the animal whose bones 
were found at the Licks on the Ohio. 

" Their chief speaker immediately put himself into an attitude of 
oratory, and with a pomp suited to what he conceived the elevation 
of his subject, informed him, that it was a tradition handed down 
from their fathers, that in ancient times a herd of these tremendous 
animals came to the Big Bone Lick, and began an universal de- 
struction of the bear, deer, elk, buffaloes, and other animals, which 
had been created for the use of the Indians. 

"And that the Great Man above, looking down, and seeing this, 
was so enraged, that he seized his lightening ; descended on the 
earth, seated himself on a neighboring mountain, on a certain rock, 
where the print of his feet are still remaining, from whence he 
hurled his bolts among them, till the whole were slaughtered ; ex- 
cept the big bull, who presenting his forehead to the shafts, shook 
them off as they fell, but at length, one of them missing his head, 
glanced on his side, wounding him sufficiently to make him mad ; 
whereon, springing round, he bounded over the Ohio, at a leap, 
then over the Wabash at another, the Illinois at a third, and a fourth 
leap, over the great lakes, where he is living at this day." 

" A Mr. Stanley, taken prisoner by the Indians, near the mouth 
of the Tennessee river, relates, that after being transferred through 
several tribes, was at length carried over the mountains west of the 
Missouri, to a river which runs westwardly ; that these bones a- 
bounded there and that the nations described to him the animal to 
which these belonged, as still living in the northern parts of their 
country." 

Mr. Jefferson contends, at page 77, of his Notes on Virginia, that 
this animal is not extinct. " It may be asked," says this philoso- 
pher, " why I insert the mammoth as if it still existed. I ask in 
return, why I should omit it, as if it did not exist. The northern 
and western parts still remain in their aboriginal state, unexplored 
and undisturbed by us, or by others for us. He may as well exist 
there now as he did formerly, where we find his bones. If he be 
a carnivorous animal, as some anatomists have conjectured, and the 
Indians affirm, his early retirement to deeper wilds, may be ac- 
counted for, from the great destruction of the wild game, by the 
Indians, which commenced in the very first instant of their connex- 
ion with us, for the purpose of purchasing matchcoats, hatchets, 
and guns, with their skins." 



150 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

The description of this monster's habits, as given by the Dela^ 
%vare chief, has a surprising agreement with the account of the 
Behemoth, given by Job ; especially at this verse : " Surely the 
mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field 
play." " He frequenis those places (says Dr. Clarke) where he 
can have most prey ; he makes a mock of all the beasts of the field. 
They can neither resist his power, nor escape his agility." " It 
appears (says the above author) " to have been a many toed ani- 
mal ; the springs which such a creature could make, must have 
been almost incredible ; nothing by swiftness could have escaped 
its pursuit. God seems to have made it as the proof his power, 
and had it been prolific, and not become extinct, it would have de- 
populated the earth of both men and animals. 



TRACKS OF MEN AND ANIMALS IN THE ROCKS OF TENNES- 
SEE, AND ELSEWHERE. 

Among the subjects of antiquity, which are abundant on the 
American continent, we give the following, from Morse's Universal 
Geography, which in point of mysteriousness is not surpassed, per- 
haps, on the globe. In the Stale of Tennessee, on a certain moun- 
tain, called the enchanted mountain, situated a few miles south of 
Braystown, which is at the head waters of the Tennessee river, are 
found impressed in the surface of the solid rock, a great number of 
tracks, as turkies, bears, horses, and human beings, as perfect as 
they could be made on snow or sand. The human tracks are re- 
markable for having uniformly six toes each, like the anakims of 
Scripture ; one only excepted, which appears to be the print of a 
negro's foot. One, among those tracks, is distinguished from the 
rest, by its monstrousness, being of no less dimensions than six- 
teen inches in length, across the toes thirteen inches, behind the 
toes, where the foot narrows toward the instep, seven inches, and 
the heel ball five inches. 

One also among the tracks of the animals, is distinguished for its 
great size : it is the track of a horse, measuring eight by ten inches ; 
perhaps the horse which the great warrior led when passing this 
mountain with his army. That these are the real tracks of the 



ANB DISGOTERIES IN THE WEST. 151 

animals they represent, appears from the circumstance of this 
horse's foot having slipped several inches, and recovered again ; the 
figures have all the same direction, like the trail of a company on 
a journey. 

Not far from this very spot, are vast heaps of stones, which are 
the supposed tombs of warriors, slain, perhaps in the very battle 
this big footed warrior was engaged in, at a period when these 
mountains, which give rise to some branches of the Tugulo, Apa- 
lachicola, and Hiwassa rivers, were in a state of soft and clayey 
texture. On this range, according to Mexican tradition, was the 
holy mountain ; temple and cave of Olaimi, where was also a city 
and the seat of their empire, more ancient than that of Mexico, 
To reduce that city, perhaps, was the object of the great warior, 
whose track with that of his horse and company, still appear. 

We are of the opinion 3 that these tracks, found sunk in tbe sur- 
face of the rocks of this mountain, is indubitable evidence of their 
antiquity, going back to the time when men dispersed over the 
earth, immediately after the flood. 

At the period when this troop passed the summit of this moun- 
tain, the rock was in a soft and yielding state ; time, therefore, suf- 
ficient for it to harden to its present rock consistency, is the argu- 
ment of the great distance of time elapsed since they went over it. 

It is probable the whole of these mountains, out of which arise 
the branches of the rivers above alluded to, were, at the time when 
the deluge subsided, but avast body of clay ; for even now, the sur- 
face, where it is not exposed to the rays of the sun, is of a soft text- 
ure, capable of being cut with a knife, and appears to be of the 
nature of the pipe stone. 

In order that those tracks might retain their shape against the 
operation of rains, the clay must have been of a tough and oily na- 
ture ; and hardened by slow degrees, after having been brought to 
feel the influence of the sun's rays, and drying nature of the winds. 
The changing and revolutionising consequences of the flood, it is 
likely, unbarred these bodies of clay from the depths of the earth, 
by washing off all the other kinds of strata, not so adhesive as is 
the nature of this clay ; out of which these ranges of mountains' 
have been made, some eighteen hundred years later than the origi- 
nal creation. • 

In the wild and savage country of Guiana, in South America, 
are mountains of a prodigious height, on whose smooth and perpen- 



152 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

dicular sides, which seem once to have been a barrier to mighty- 
waters, are engraved, at a surprising distance from their base, the 
figures of animals ; also the sun, moon, and stars, with other hiero- 
glyphical signs. 

The tradition respecting them, among the natives, is that their 
ancestors, in a time of great waters, came in canoes, to the tops of 
these mountains, and that the stones were then so soft, and plastic, 
that men could easily trace marks on them with their fingers, or 
with sticks. 

These rocks, it would appear, were then in a state similar to 
those in Tennessee, which also had retained the impressions made 
on them by the feet of the traveller. But these mysterious traces 
found on the mountain in Tennessee, are not the only impressions 
of the kind. Mr. Sehoolcraft, in his travels in the central parts of 
the Mississippi regions, informs us, that on the limestone strata of 
rock, which forms the shores of the Mississippi, and along the 
neighborhood of St. Louis, were found tracks of the human foot, 
deeply and perfectly impressed in the solid stone. But two traces 
of this sort have been, as yet, discovered ; these are the same re- 
presented on the plate, as given by Schoolcraft.— See plate. 

" The impressions in the stone are, to all appearances, those of a 
man standing in an erect posture, with the left foot a little advanc- 
ed, and the heels drawn in. The distance between the heels, by 
accurate measurement, is six inches and a quarter, and between the 
extremities of the toes, thirteen and a half. The length of these 
tracks is ten and a quarter inches, across the toes four inches and a 
half, as spread out, and but two and a half at the heel. Directly 
before the prints of these feet, within a few inches, is a well im- 
pressed and deep mark, having some resemblance to a scroll, or 
roll of parchment, two feet long, by a foot in width. 

To account ior these appearances, two theories are advanced ; 
one is, that they were sculptured there by'the ancient nations : the 
other, that they were impressed there at a time when the rock was 
in a plastic state ; both theories have their difficulties, but we in- 
cline to the latter, because the impressions are strikingly natural,' 
says Mr. Schoolcraft, exhitbing even the muscular marks of the 
foot, with great precision and faithfulness to nature, and on this ac- 
count, weakens, in his opinion, the doctrine of their being sculp- 
tured by the ancient nations. 

But why there are no others going to and from these, is unac> 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- 153 

countable, unless we may suppose the rest of this rock, at that time, 
was buried by earth, brush, grass, or some kind of covering. If 
they were sculptured, why not other specimens appear ; this one 
isolated effort of the kind, would seem unnatural. — See the plate, 
which is a truefac simile of those tracks. 



COTUBAMANA, THE GIANT CHIEF. 

On the subject of the stature of the Patagonians, we have the 
following remarks of Morse, the geographer. " We cannot, with- 
out a charge of unreasonable scepticism, deny all credence to the 
accounts that have been transmitted to us, of a race of men of ex- 
traordinary stature, in the country about the Strait of Magellan. 

Inscrutable as are the ways of Providence, and as limited as is 
the progress hitherto made in the natural philosophy of the globe 
we inhabit, no bounds can be assigned to the endless variety of 
phenomena, which successively appear. The man who can assign 
a reason why an Irish giant, or a Polish dwarf, should be born 
amidst nations of ordinary stature, will have solved every problem, 
as to the existence, either of gigantic Patagonians, or of pigmy Es- 
quimaux. 

From, an impartial revision of the various authorities, it appears, 
as an established fact, that the usual stature of one or more tribes 
of Indians in Patagonia, is from six and a half to seven and a half 
feet." 

When the Spaniards conquered and destroyed the nations and 
tribes of some of the West India islands, among them was a tribe 
whose chief was a man of great stature. Cotubamana was the 
name of this cacique, who resided with his nation on the island 
Higuey, adjacent to Hispaniola. 

This chieftian, as related by Las Casas. the historian, was the 
strongest of his tribe, and more perfectly formed than one man of 
a thousand, of any nation whatever. He was taller than the tallest 
of his countrymen, in width from shoulder to shoulder exceeding 
all men, measuring full three feet, with the rest of his person iu 

20 



154 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

admirable proportion. His aspect was not handsome ; yet his coun- 
tenance was grave, strongly marked with the characteristics of a 
man of courage. 

His bow was not easily bent by a common man ; his arrow was 
three pronged, pointed with the bones of fishes ; all his weapons 
were large enough for a giant ; in a word, he was so nobly propor- 
tioned as to be the admiration of even the Spaniards. 

Already the murderous Spaniards had been m^e than conquer- 
ors in several battles which drove the poor fugitives to their caves, 
and the fastnesses of the mountains, whither they had followed their 
chief. A daily pursuit was continued, but chiefly to capture the 
as yet invincible Cotubamana. 

While searching in the woods and hills of the island, at a certain 
time, and having got on their trail, they came at length to a place 
where the path which they had followed suddenly spread, and 
divided into many, the whole company of the Spaniards, except 
one man, chose a path, which they pursued. 

This one exception, was a man named Juan Lopez, a powerful 
Spaniard, and skilful in the mode of Indian warfare. He chose 
to proceed alone, in a blind foot path, leading off to the left of the 
course the others had taken, winding among little hills, so thickly 
wooded that it was impossible to see a man at the distance of half 
a bow shot. 

But as he was silently darting along this path, he encountered 
all at once, in a narrow pass, overhung by rocks and trees, twelve 
Indian warriors, armed with bows and arrows, following each other 
in Indian file. The poor natives were confounded at the sight of 
Lopez, imagining there must be a party of soldiers behind him, or 
they would doubtless have transfixed hr.u with their arrows. 
Lopez demanded of them where their chief was ; they replied, he 
is behind us, and opening to let him pass, he beheld the dauntless 
Cotubamana in the rear. At sight of the Spaniard, the gallant 
cacique bent his gigantic bow, and was on the point of launching 
one of his three headed arrows into his heart ; but Lopez at the 
instant, rushed upon him, and wounded him with his sword. 

The other Indians, struck with terror, had fled. The Spaniard 
and Cotubamana now grappled with each other; Lopez had seized 
the chief by the hair of his head with one hand, and was aiming 
with the other a thrust with his sword at his naked body, but the 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 155 

chief struck down the sword with his arm, and closed in with hi§ 
antagonist, and threw him with his back upon the rough rocks. 

As they were both men of great strength, the struggle was long 
and violent. The sword lay beneath them, but Cotubamana seized 
with his great hand the Spaniard's throat, and began to strangle 
him, when the sound of the contest brought the other Spaniards to 
the spot. They found their companion writhing and gasping in 
the agonies of death, in the gripe of the Indian. The whole band 
now fell upon him, and finally succeeded in binding his noble limbs, 
when they carried him to St. Domingo, where the infernal Span- 
iards hanged him as if he had been a murderer. — Irvingh Life of 
Columbus, 3d vol. p. 159. 

Could this native have been less than 12 feet in height, to be in 
proportion with the breadth of his back between his shoulders, 
which was full three feet, as Las Casas relates ? In reading the 
story of the miserable death of this hero of his own native island, 
Kiguey, we are reminded of the no less tragical end of Wallace, 
the Scottish chief, who was, it is said, a man of great size and 
strength, and was also executed for defending his country. 

Goliath of Gath was six cubits and a span high, which, accord- 
ing to the estimate of Bishop Cumberland, was eleven feet and ten 
inches; Cotubamana and Goliath df the Philistines, were, it ap- 
pears, much of the same stature, terrible to look upon, and irresisti- 
ble in strength. 

There are those who imagine, that the first inhabitants of the 
globe, or the antediluvians, were much larger than our race at the 
present time ; and although it is impossible to prove this opinion, yet 
the subject is not beyond the reach of argument in its support. 

The circumstance cf their immense longevity favors strongly 
this opinion ; our speeies, as they are now constituted, could not 
possibly endure the piossure of so many years ;. the heart, with all 
the blood vessels of the body, would fail. AH the organs of the 
human subject, which r.ppertaiu to the blood, would ossify, and 
cease their action, long before five, six and nine hundred years 
should transpire, unless differently or more abundantly sustained 
with the proper support, than could now be furnished from the lit- 
tle bodies of the present times. 

Small streams sooner feel the power of a draught than a river or 
a lake ; great trees are longer sustained beneath the rays of a burn- 



156 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

ing sky, without rain, than a mere weed or shrub ; and this is bf 
reason of the greater quantum of the juices of the tree, and of the 
greater quantum of the water of the river or the lake. 

Apply this reasoning to the antediluvians, and we arrive at the 
conclusion, that their bodies must have been larger than ours, or 
the necessary juices could not have been contained, so as to furnish 
a heart, and all the blood vessels, with a sufficient ratio of strength 
and vigor to support life so many ages in successsion. 

Their whole conformation must have been of a larger, looser, 
and more generous texture, as the flesh and skin of the elephant, 
which is the largest as well as the longest lived animal known to 
the science of zoology. The mammoth was undoubtedly a long 
lived animal. The eagle, the largest of the fowl family, lives to a 
great age. 

That the antediluvians were of great stature, is strongly support- 
ed by a remark of King Solomon, found in his Book of Wisdom,, 
in the Apocrypha, 14th chapter, at the 6th verse, where he calls all 
the inhabitants of the earth, who were destroyed by the deluge, 
"proud giants," whose history, by tradition, handed down from the 
family of Noah, through the lineage of Shem, was well known to 
that king, the wisest of men in his day and age. 

And even after the flood, the great stature of men is supported 
in the Scriptures in several places, who were, for some generations, 
permitted to live several hundred years, and were all accordingly 
of great stature. Whole tribes or nations of gigantic inhabitants 
peopled the country of Canaan, before the Jews drove them out. 

Their manners and customs were very horrible, whom Solomon, 
the king, charges with being guilty, among m«iny other enormities, 
of glutting themselves with the blood and flesh of human beings; 
from which we learn they were cannibals. See Book of Wisdom, 
12th chap. 5th verse — Apocrypha. 

The very circumstances of the human race, before the flood, re- 
quired that they should be of greater strength of body than now, 
because it is not likely so many useful and labor saving machines 
were then invented and in use as now. ' Every. thing' was to be 
effected by strength of muscle and bone, which of course would 
require greater bodies to produce it. 

Were we to indulge in fancy on this subject, we should judge 
them no pigmy race, either in person or in temper ; but terrible, 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 157 

broad, and tall in stature, loose and flabby in their flesh and skin ; 
coarse and hideous in their features, slow and s-trong in their ges- 
tures, irascible and ferocious in their spirits, without pity or refine- 
ment ; given wholly to war, rapine and plunder ; formed into 
bands; clans and small bodies of marauders, constantly prowling 
round each other's habitations, outraging all the charities of a more 
refined state of things, measuring all things by mere bodily strength. 

From such a state of things we should naturally look for the 
consequence mentioned in the Bible ; which is, that the whole 
earth was filled with violence before the flood, and extremely 
wicked every way, so as to justify the Divine procedure in their 
extermination. 

Indications now and then appear, in several parts of the earth, 
as mentioned by the traveller, of the existence of fowls, of a size 
compared with the mammoth itself, considering the difference in 
the elements each inhabit, and approach each other in size as near- 
ly a$ the largest fowl now known, does the largest animal. 

Henderson, in his travels in New Siberia, met with the claws of 
a bird, measuring three feet in length ; the same was the length of 
the toes of a mammoth, as measured by Adam Clarke. 

The Yakuts, inhabitants of the Siberian country, assured Mr. 
Henderson, -that they had frequently, in their hunting excursions, 
found the skeleton, and even the feathers of this fowl, the quills of 
which were large enough to admit a man's arm into the calibre, 
which would not be out of proportion with the size of the claws 
mentioned above. 

" Captain Cook mentions having seen, during his voyages, a mon- 
strous bird's nest in New Holland, on a low sandy island, in En- 
deavor River, with trees upon it, where were an incredible num- 
ber of sea fowls. This monstrous nest was built on the ground, 
with large sticks, and was no less than twenty-six feet in circum- 
ference, more than eight feet across, and two feet eight inches high. 
Geographys speak of a species ,of eagle, sometimes shot in South 
America, measuring from tip to tip of the wings, forty feet. This, 
indeed, must have been of the species celebrated in the tradition 
of the ancients, called the Phoenix. 

In various parts of Ireland, are frequently dug up enormous 
horns, supposed to have belonged to a species of deer, now extinct. 
Some of these horns have been found, of the extent of fourteen 



15$ AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

feet from tip to tip, furnished with brow antlers, and weighing three 
hundred pounds. The whole skeleton is frequently found with 
them. It is supposed the animal must have been about twelve 
feet high. — Morse's Universal Geog. 



A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST, AS 
GIVEN BY THE ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY AT CINCINNATI. 

Near Newark, in the county of Licking, Ohio, is situated one 
©f those immense wor\s or fortifications. Its builders chose, with 
good taste and judgme-it, this site for their town, being exactly on 
the point of land ai the junction of Racoon Creek and South 
Fork, where Licking Ttiver commences. It is in form resembling 
somewhat a horse shea, accommodated, however, to the sweep of 
those two streams ; embracing in the whole, a circumference of 
about six hundred rods, or nearly two miles. 

. A wall of earth, of about four hundred rods, is raised on the 
sides of this fort next to the small creek, which comes down along 
its sides from the webt and east. The situation is beautiful, as 
these works stand on a large plain, which is elevated forty or fifty 
feet above the stream just noticed, and is almost perfectly flat, and 
as rich a soil as can be found in that country. It would seem the 
people who made this settlement, undertook to encompass with a 
wall, as much land as would support its inhabitants^ and also suffi- 
cient to build their dwellings on, with several fortifications, arrang- 
ed in a proper manner for its defence. 

There are, within its ranges four of those forts, of different di- 
mensions ; one contains forty acres, with a wall of about ten feet 
high ; another, containing twent-two acres, also walled ; but in 
this fort is an elevated observatory, of sufficient height to overlook 
the whole country. From this, there is the appearance of a secret 
or subterranean passage to the water, as one of the creeks runs 
near this fort. 

A third fort, containing about twenty-six acres, having a wall 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 159 

around it, thrown out of a deep ditch on the inner side of the wall. 
This wall is now from twenty-five to thirty feet in height. 

A fourth fortification, enclosing twenty acres, with a wall of about 
ten feet high. Two of these forts are perfect circles ; one a per- 
fect square ; another an octagon or eight sided. These forts are 
severally connected by roads running between parallel walls ; and 
also in the same way communicate with the creeks ; so that these 
important points, in case of invasion, should not be deprived of wa- 
ter. There are, besides the forts, four other small works of de- 
fence, of a circular form, situated in such a manner as to protect, 
in a measure, the roads running from fort to fort. 

The fort which is of the eight sided form, containing the great- 
est space withiD, has eight gateways, with a mound in front of each 
of them, and were doubtless placed thereto aid in a defence against 
invaders. The other forts have no gateways connected with the 
roads that lead to them, except one, and this is a round fort united 
to the octangular fort, containing twenty -two acres ; the gateway to 
this looks toward the wilderness ; at this gate is also a mound, sup- 
posed to be for its defence. 

On the southern side of this great town, is a road running off to 
the country, which is also walled in the same way ; it has been 
surveyed a few miles, and is supposed to connect other similar 
works on the Hokhoking, thirty miles distance, at some point a few 
miles north of Lancaster, as walls of the description connected with 
this work, of fen or twelve miles in extent, have been discovered. 
It is supposed, also, that the walls on each side of the road were 
made for the double purpose of answering a> a fence to their fields, 
with gateways to accommodate their farms, and for security in time 
of danger, so that communion between friendly settlements might 
not be interrupted. About the walls of this place have been dis- 
covered very beautiful rock crystal and horn stone, suitable for ar- 
row and spear heads, a little lead, sulphur, and iron. 

This kind of stone, suitable for spears, was, undoubtedly, valua- 
ble on other accounts, as axes, knives, mallets, &c, were made of 
it. It is likely that, as very little iron has been discovered, even 
in its oxydized state, their vast works of e icavation were carried 
on by means of wooden shovels and scrapers, which would answer 
very well in the easy and stoneless soil of that country. 

A second fort, situated southwesterly from the great works on 



160 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

the Licking, and four or five miles, in a northwestern direction 
from Somerset, the seat of Justice for Perry county, is found. This 
work encloses about forty acres ; its wall is entirely of stone, not 
regularly laid up in a wall, agreeably to the rules of masonry, but 
a huge mass of stones and rocks of all shapes and sizes, as nature 
formed them, without the mark of an iron tool upon them. These 
are in sufficient quantity to form a wall, if laid in good order, of 
about fourteen feet in height, and three in thickness. 

Near the centre of the area of this enclosure, is a stone mound, 
of a circular form, fifteen feet high, and was erected, as is conjec- 
tured, for an altar, on which were performed their religious rites, 
and also for a monument to perpetuate the memory of some great 
event in the history of its builders. It is also believed, that the 
whole of this vast preparation was devoted solely to the purposes 
of worship of some kind ; as it is situated on very high ground, 
where the soil is good for nothing, and may have been, what is 
called; an high place in Scripture, according to the customs of the 
ancient pagans of the old world. 

It could not have been a military work, as no water is found 
there, nor a place of dwelling, for the same reason, and from the 
poverty of the soil ; but must have been a place of resort on great 
occasions, such as a solemn assembly to propitiate the gods ; and 
also a place to anoint and crown their kings, elect legislators, trans- 
act national affairs, judge among the people, and inflict condign 
punishment. 

Who will believe for a moment, that the common Indian of the 
west, who were derived in part from the wandering hordes of the 
Northern Tartar race of Asia, were the authors of these works ; 
bearing the marks of so much labor and scientific calculation in 
their construction ? It cannot be. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- 161 



VAST WCRKS OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS ON THE EAST 
SIDE OF THE MUSKINGUM. 

This fort, town, or fortification, or whatever it may have beec, 
is between three and four hundred rods ; or rising of a mile in cir- 
cumference, and so situated as to be nearly surrounded by two 
small brooks, running into the Muskingum. Their site is -on an 
elevated plain, above the present bank of that river, about a half 
mile from its junction with the Ohio. 

We give the account in the words of Mr. Atwater, president of 
the ^Antiquarian Society. u They consist of walls and mounds of 
earth, in direct lines, and in square and circular forms. The largest 
square fort, by some called the town, contains forty acres, encom- 
passed by a wall of earth, from six to ten feet high, and from twen- 
ty to thirty in breadth at the base. 

u On each side are tiree openings at equal distances, resembling 
twelve gateways. Ths entrances at the middle are the largest, 
particularly on the side next to the Muskingum. From this outlet 
is a covert way formed cf two parallel walls of earth, two hundred 
and thirty-one feet distant from each other, measured from centre 
to centre. The walls at the most elevated part, on the inside, are 
twenty-one feet in height, and forty-two in breadth, at the base, 
but on the outside average only about five feet in height. This 
fordas a passage of about twenty rods in length, leading by a gradu- 
al descent to the low grounds, where, at the time of its construc- 
tion, it probably reached the river. Its walls commence at sixty 
feet from the ramparts of the fort, and increase in elevation as the 
way descends to the river ; and the bottom is rounded in the cen- 
tre, in the manner of a well founded turnpike road. 

Within the walls of the fort, at its northwest corner, is an oblong 
elevated square, one hundred and eighty feet long, one hundred 
and thirty-two broad, and nine feet high, level on the summit, and 
even now, nearly perpendicular at the sides. Near the south wall 
is an elevated square, an hundred and fifty by an hundred and 
twenty, and eight feet high, similar to the other, excepting, that 
instead of an ascent to go up on the side next the wall, there is a 

21 



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0/ /A* ancient works an the Musking- 
um, near Marietta, Ohio. 
Explanation. — No. 1, every- 
where, shows the walls of these works. 
No. 2 shows the conical mounds. No. 
2, however, inclosed by a circle repre- 
sents a very large mound surrounded by 
a wall and ditch. No 3 shows the two 
covered »vays leading from the large fort 
to the shore ol the Muskingum. No. 5 
shows the remains of an ancient well. 
No. 6 shows two ponds, or excavations. 
No. 7 shows an elevated octangular 
oblong square, 180 feet long 30 broad 
and 9 high; level on the top. No. 4 
shows a "2d octangular square, 150 by 
an 120 feet, and 8 high; with a suhte- 
ranean way leading to its top. No. 8 
■hows a 3d elevated square, ISO feet by 
54, not as high as the others. Kioia 
actual survey by S. De Witt, May, 
1822. 



<** 4 



^a 



Q 



P 



162 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

hollow way, ten feet wide, leading twenty feet towards the centre, 
and then rising with a gradual slope to the top. This was, it is 
likely, a secret passage. At the southeast corner is a third elevated 
square, of an hundred and eighty by fifty-four feet, with ascents at 
the ends,- ten feet wide, but not so high nor perfect as the two 
others. 

Besides this forty acre fort, which is situated within the great 
range of the surrounding wall, there is another, containing twenty 
^cres, with a gateway in the centre of each side, and at each cor- 
ner these gatewys are defended by circular mound". 

On the outside of the smaller fort is a mound, in form of a sugar 
loaf; its base is a regular circle, one hundred and fifteen feet in 
diameter, or twenty-one rods in circumference ; its altitude is thirty 
feet. It is surrounded by a ditch four feet deep, fifteen feet wide, 
and defended by a parapet four feet high, through which is a gate- 
way towards the foot, twenty feet in width. Near one of the cor- 
ners of the great fort, was found a reservoir or well, twenty-five feet 
in diameter, and seventy-five in circumference, with its sides raised 
above the common level of the adjoining surface, by an embank- 
ment of earth, three and four feet high." 

It was, undoubtedly, at first, very deep, as, since its discovery by 
the first settlers, they have frequently thrust poles into it to the 
depth of thirty feet. It appears to run to a point, like an inverted 
cone or funnel, and was undoubtedly that kind of well used by the 
inhabitants of the old world, which were so large at their top as to 
afford an easy descent down to the fountain, and up again with its 
water in a vessel borne on the shoulder, according to the ancient 
custom. See Genesis 13th chapter, 24th verse : " And she, (that 
is Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel,) wee: down to the well, filled 
her pitcher and came up.". Bethuel was an Assyrian, who, it 
seems, had made a well in the same form with that described 
above. Its sides were lined with a stratum of fine ash colored 
clay, eight and ten inches thick, beyond which is the common soil 
of the place. It is conjectured, that at the bottom of this well 
might be found many curious articles which belonged to the ancient 
inhabitants. 

On both sides of these walls are found fragments of pottery, cu- 
riously ornamented, made of shells an<f clay, fine gravel and clay, 
burnt in the fire, and capable of holding liquids. When broken, it 



ANt> DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 163 

appears quite black, with brilliant particles appearing at it is held 
to the light. 

Several pieces of copper have been found in and near these an- 
cient works, at various places ; and one was in the form of a cup, 
with low sides, the bottom very thick and strong, showing their 
enlarged acquaintance with that metal, more than the Indians 
ever had. 



RUINS OP ANCIENT WORKS AT CIRCLEVILLE, 

At Circlevilie, in Ohio, are the remains of very great works of 
this description, evidently of a military character, two of which 
are united ; one is exactly square, the other an exact circle. The 
square fort is fifty rods on each side ; the round one is nearly three 
hundred feet, or eighteen rods in circumference ; the circle and 
square touching each other, and communicate at the very spot 
where they are united. 

The circular fort is surrounded by two wails, with a deep ditch 
between them; the square fort is also encompassed by a wall, 
without a ditch. The walls of the circular fort were at least twen- 
ty feet in height, measuring from the bottom of the ditch, before 
the town of Circlevilie was built. The inner wall is formed of 
clay, brought from a distance, but the outside one was formed with 
the earth of the ditch, as it was thrown out. 

There were eight gateways, or openings, leading into the square 
fort, and only one intc the circular. Before each of these open- 
ings was a mound of earth, about four feet high, forty feet in diame- 
ter at the base, and twenty feet and upwards at the top, situated 
about two rods in front of the gates ; for the defence, no doubt, of 
these openings. The walls of this work vary a few degrees from 
north and south, and east and west, but no more than the needle 
varies; and not a few surveyors have, from this circumstance, 
been impressed with the belief, that the authors of these works 
were acquainted with astronomy, and the four cardinal points. 

Within the great square fort are eight small mounds, placed op- 



164 AMERICAN ANTIWTI18 

posite the gateways, for their defence, or to give opportunity to prl« 
vileged spectators to review the thousands passing out to war, or 
coming in with the trophies of victory. Such was the custom of 
ancient times. David, the most potent king of the Jews, stood at 
the gateway of the city, as his armies went to quell the insurrection 
of his son Absalom. See 2d Samuel, 18th chapter, 4th verse : 
" And the king stood by the gate side, and all the people came out 
by hundreds and by thousands." It cannot be supposed the king 
stood on the ground, on a common level with his armies. Such a 
situation would be extremely inconvenient, and defeat, in a great 
measure, the opportunity of review. How impressive, when 
soldiers, fired with all the ardor of expected victory, to behold their 
general, chief, king, or emperor, bending over them, as they pass 
on, from some commanding position near at hand, giving counsel to 
their captains; drawing, in this way, large draughts on the indi- 
vidual confidence and love of the soldiery. Such may have been 
the spectacle at the gateways of the forts of the west, at the eras of 
their grandeur. 

In musing on the structure of these vast works found along the 
western rivers, enclosing such immense spaces of land, the mind 
is irresistibly directed to a contemplation of ancient Babylon, the 
first city of magnitude built immediately after the flood. That 
city was of a square form, being fifteen miles distance on each of 
its sides, and sixty in circumference, surrounded with a wall eighty- 
seven feet in thickness, and three hundred and fifty in height. 
On each side it had twenty-five gateways, amounting in all, to an 
hundred ; the whole, besides the wall, surrounded with a deep and 
wide ditch. At each corner of this immense square, was a strong 
tower, ten feet higher than the walls. There were fifty broad 
streets, each fifteen miles long, starting from each of its gates, and 
an hundred and fifty feet broad, crossing each other at right angles ; 
besides four half streets, surrounding the whole, two hundred feet 
broad. The whole city was divided into six hundred and seventy- 
six squares, four and a half furlongs on each side. In the centre 
of the city stood the temple of Belus, ar.d in the centre of this 
temple stood an immense tower, six hundred feet square at its base, 
and six hundred feet high, narrowing in the form of a pyramid as 
it ascended. The ascent to the summit was accomplished by spiral 
stairs, winding eight times round the whole. This tower consisted 



A2TP DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST, 168 

of eight distinct parts, each on the top of the other, seventy-five 
feet high, till the whole, in aggregate, finished the tower. 

In the different stones were temples, or chapels, for the worship 
of the sun ; and on its top, some authors say, was an image of gold, 
forty feet in height, equal in value to three millions five hundred 
thousand dollars. — Blake's Atlas. 

The moddle of this city, with its towers at the corners, and 
pyramid in its centre, having been made at so early a period of 
time, being not far from an hundred years after the flood, was 
doubtless of sufficient influence to impress its image on the memory 
of tradition, so that the nations spreading out from that region over 
all the earth, may have copied this Chaldean model in their various 
works. 

This thought is strengthened when we compare its counterpart, 
the vast works of the west, with this Babylonian prototype of archi- 
tectural effort, and imagine we see in the latter, the features and 
general outlines of this giant, among cities, in the towers, walls, 
and pyramids of the western states. 

Near the round fort at Circleville, is another fort, ninety feet 
high, and was doubtless erected to overlook the whole works of 
that enormous military establishment. That it was a military es- 
tablishment is che decided opinion of the President of the Western 
Antiquarian Society, Mr. Atwater. He says, the round fort was 
picketed in, if we are to judge from the appearance of the ground, 
on and about the walls. Half way up the outside of the inner wall, 
is a place distinctly to be seen, where a row of pickets once stood, 
and where it was placed when this work of defence was originally 
erected. Finally, this work about its walls and ditch, a few years 
since, presented as much of a defensive aspect, as forts which were 
occupied in our war with the French, such as Oswego, Fort Stan- 
wix, and others. 

These works have been examined by the first military men now 
living in the United States, and they have uniformly declared their 
opinion to be, that they were milicary works of defence, 






166 AMERICAN jLNTigVm&S 



ANCIENT WORKS ON PAINT CREEK, 

On Paint Creek, in Ohio, about fifteen miles from Chilicothe, 
are works of art, still more wonderful than any yet described. 
There are six in mi nber, and are in the neighborhood of each 
other. In one of those grand enclosures are contained three forts, 
one embraces seventeen, another twenty-seven, a third seventy- 
seven, amounting in ill, to an hundred and fifteen acres of land. 

One of those forts is round, another square, and a third is of an 
irregular form, appro sehing however, nearer to the circular than 
any other; and the v*all which embraces the whole, is so contrived 
in its courses, as to "avor those several forms j the whole being, 
evidently, one work, separated into three compartments. 

There are fourteen gateways, going out of the whole work, be- 
sides three which un.le the several forts one with the other, in- 
wardly ; all these, especially those leading outwardly, are very 
wide, being, as they aow appear, from one to six rods. At three 
of those gateways, on the outside of the wall, are as many ancient 
wells ; and one on the inside, where doubtless, the inhabitants 
procured water. The.r width at the top is from four to six rods, 
but their depth unknown, as they are now nearly filled up. With- 
in the greatest enclosure, containing the seventy-seven acres, is an 
elipticai elevation of twenty-five feet in height, and so large, that its 
area is nearly one hundred and fifty rods in circumference, com- 
posed almost entirely of stone in their rough and natural state, 
brought from a hill ac-jaeent to the place. 

This elevated work is full of human bones, and some have not 
hesitated to express a belief, that on this work, human beings were 
once sacrificed. The surface is smooth and level, favoring the 
idea of the horrid parade, such occasions would produce ; yet they 
may have been erected for the purpose of mere military manseuvre- 
ing, which would produce a spectacle very imposing, composed of 
thousands, harnessed in their war attire, with nodding plumes. 

About a mile from this fort, there is a work in the form of a half 
moon, set round the edges with stones, exactly resembling the stone 
circles of the Druids, in which they performed their mystic rites 



AND DISCOVERIES IN TftE WEST. 167 

in Europe, two thousand years ago. Near this semicircle is a very 
singular mound of only five feet in height, but ninety feet in cir- 
cumference, composed entirely of red ochre ; which answers well 
as a paint. An abundance of this ochre is found on a hill, not a 
great distance from this place ; from which circumstance, the stream 
which runs along here, is called Paint Creek. 

So vast a heap of this paint being deposited, is pretty clear evi 
dence, that it was an article of commerce among these nations 
Here may have been a store house, or a range of them, attended 
by salesmen, or merchants ; who took in exchange for it, copper, 
feathers, bow and arrow timber, stone for hatchets, spears, and 
knives, wooden ploughs and shovels ; with skins and furs, for cloth- 
ing ; stones for building their rude altars and works ; with food to 
sustain the populace, as the manner of cities of the present time, 
Red paint in particular, is used now among the Hindoos, which 
they mark themselves with, as well as their gods. This vast col- 
lection of red paint, by the ancient nations^ on Paint Creek, favors 
the opinion, that it was put to the same use, by the same people. 

Near this work is another, on the same creek, enclosing eighty- 
four acres, part of which is a square fort, with seven gateways; 
and the other a fort, of an irregular oval, with seven gateways, sur- 
rounded with a wall like the others. But the most interesting work 
of the three contiguous forts, is yet to be described. It is situated 
on a high hill, of more than three hundred feet elevation, and in 
many places almost perpendicular. The wall running round this 
work, is built exactly on the brow of the precipice, and in its 
courses, is accommodated to the variations of this natural battle- 
ment, enclosing, in the whole, an hundred and thirty acres. On 
its south end the ground is level, where the entrance to the fort is 
easy. At the north end, which approaches pretty near to Paint 
Creek, appears to have been a gateway descending to the water, 
the ground favoring it at this point, as well rs at one other, leading 
to a little stream, which runs along its base, on the east side of this 
eminence, where is also another gateway ; these three places are 
the only points which are at all accessible. The wall round the 
whole one hundred and thirty acres, is entirely of stone, and is in 
sufficient quantity, if laid up in good order, to make it ten feet high, 
an<|,four thick. At the north gateway, ston *s enough now lie, to 
have built two considerable round towers, tak in from the hill itself, 
and are of the red sand stone kind. 



168 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Near the south end of this enclosure, at the place where it is 
easiest of access, " appear to have been a row of furnaces, (says 
Mr. Atwater) or smith's shops, where the cinders now lie, many 
feet deep ; but was not able to say with certainty, what manufac- 
tures were carried on here, whether brick or iron, or both." It 
was a clay, that had been exposed to the action of fire ; the re- 
mains of which are four and five feet in depth j which shows in a 
good degree, the amount of business done was great. u Iron ore, 
in this country, is sometimes found in such clay ; brick and potter's 
ware are now manufactured out of it. This fort is, from its natural 
site, one of the strongest positions of the kind in the State of Ohio, 
so high is its elevation, and so nearly perpendicular are the sides of 
the hill on which it was built." At the several angles of the wall, 
and at the gateways, the abundance of stone lying there, leads to 
the belief, that those points, towers and battlements once overlook- 
ed the country to an immense distance ; from whence stones and 
arrows might have been launched away, from engines adapted to 
that purpose, among the approaching enemy, with dreadful effect. 
" No military man could have selected a better position for a place 
of protection to his countrymen, their temples and their gods," 
than this. 



ANCIENT WELLS FOUND IN THE BOTTOM OF PAINT CREEK. 

In the bed of Paint Creek, which washes the foot of the hill, 
on which the walled town stood, have been discovered four wells. 
They were dug through a pyritous slate rock, which is very rich 
in iron ore. When first discovered, by a person passing over them 
in a canoe, they were covered, each by stones of about the size 
and shape of the common mill stone. These covers had holes 
through their centre, through which a large pry, or handspike might 
be put for the purpose of removing them off and on the wells. 
The hole through the centre of each stone, was about four inches 
in diameter. The wells at their tops were more than nine fee^ in 
circumference ; the stones were well wrought with tools, so as to 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 169 

make good joints, as a stone mason would say, which were laid 
around them severally, as a pavement. At the time they were dug, 
it is not likely, Paint Creek run over these wells. For what they 
were sunk, is a mystery ; as that for the purposes of water, so 
many so near each other, would scarcely appear necessary ; per- 
haps for some kind of ore or favorite stone, was the original object, 
perhaps for salt water. 

There is, at Portsmouth, Ohio, one of those works, which is very 
extensive and wonderful, on account of walled roads, a i high place,' 
with many intricate operations in its construction. 

On the east bank of the Little Miami, about thirty miles east 
from Cincinnati, are vast works of this character ; having the form 
almost exactly of the continent of North and South America, as 
presented on the map, on which account some have supposed they 
were made in imitation of it. 



A RECENT DISCOVERY OF ONE OF THOSE ANCIENT WORKS 
AMONG THE ALLEGHANIES. 

New discoveries are constantly making of these ancient works, 
the farther we. go west, and the more minutely the research is 
prosecuted, even in parts already settled. 

During the last year, 1832, a Mr. Ferguson communicated to the 
editor of the Christian Advocate and Journal, a discovery of the 
kind, which he examined, and describes as follows: 

" On a mountain called the Lookout mountain, belonging to the 
vast Alleghanian chain, running between the Tennessee and Coos 
rivers, rising about one thousand feet above the level of the sur- 
rounding valley. The top of the mountain is mostly level, but 
presents to the eye an almost barren waste. On this range, not- 
withstanding its height, a river has its source, after traversing it 
for about seventy miles, plunges over a precipice. The rock from 
which the water falls, is circular, and juts over considerably. Im- 
mediately below the fall, on each side of the river, are bluff's, which 
rise about two hundred feet. Around one of these bluffs, the river 

22 



170 AMERICAN ANTIQU1TIE3 

makes a bend, which gives it the form of a peninsula. On the top 
of this are the remains of what is esteemed fortifications ; which 
consist of a stone wall, built on the very brow of this tremendous 
ledge. The whole length of the wall, following the varying 
courses of the brink of this precipice, as thirty-seven rods and eight 
feet, including about two acres of ground." 

The only descent from this place is between two rocks, for about 
thirty feet, when a bench of the ledge presents itself, from two to 
the feet in width, and ninety feet long. This l~nch is the only 
road or path up from the water's edge to the summit. But just at 
the foot of the two rocks, where they reach this path, and within 
thirty feet of the top of the rock, are five rooms, which have been 
formed by dint of labor. The entrance to these rooms is very 
small, but when within, they are found to communicate with each 
other, by doors or apertures. Mr. Ferguson thinks them to have 
been constructed during some dreadful war, and those who con- 
structed them, to have acted on the defensive ; and believe that 
twenty men could have withstood the whole army of Xerxes, as it 
was impossible for more than one to pass at a time ; and might by 
the slightest push, be hurled at least an hundred and fifty feet 
down the rocks. The reader can indulge his own conjectures, 
whether, in the construction of this inaccessible fortress, he does 
not perceive the remnant of a tribe or nation, acquainted with the 
arts of excavation and defence ; making a last struggle against the 
invasion of an overwhelming foe ; where, it is likely, they were 
reduced by famine, and perished amid the yells of their enemies. 



A DESCRIPTION OF WESTERN TUMULI OR MOUNDS. 

We now proceed to a description of the ancient tumuli of the 
west, and of discoveries made on opening many of them ; quoted 
from the Researches of the Antiquarian Society. 

Ancient Tumuli are considered a kind of antiquities, differing in 
character from that of the other works ; both on account of what is 
frequently discovered in them, and the manner of their construe- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- 171 

tion* They are conical mounds, either of earth or stones, which 
were intended for sacred and important purposes. In many parts 
of the world, similar mounds were used as monuments, sepulchres, 
altars, and temples. The accounts of these works, found in the 
Scriptures, show, that their origin must be sought for among the 
Antediluvians. 

I That they are very ancient, and were, used as places of sepulture, 
public resort, and public worship, is proved by all the writers of 
ancient times, both sacred and profane. Homer frequently men- 
tions them, particularly describing the tumulus of Tydeus, and 
the spot where it was. In memory of the illustrious dead } a se- 
pulchral mound of earth was raised over their remains ; which, 
from that time forward, became an altar, whereon to offer sacrifices, 
and around which to exhibit games of athletic exercise. These of- 
ferings and games were intended to propitiate their names, to honor 
and perpetuate their memories. Prudentius, a Roman bard, has 
told us, that there were in ancient Rome, just as many temples of 
gods, as there were sepulchres of heroes ; implying that they were 
the same. Need I mention the tomb of Anchies, which Virgil 
has described, with the offerings there presented, and the games 
there exhibited ? The sanctity of Acropolis, where Cecrops was 
inhumed ? The tomb of the father of x\donis s at Paphos, whereon 
a temple dedicated to Venus, was erected ? The grave of Cleoma- 
chus, whereon stood a temple dedicated to the worship of Apollo ? 
Finallyj I would ask the classical reader, if the words translated 
tomb) and temple, are not used as synonymous, by the poets of 
Greece and Rome ? Virgil, who wrote in the days of Augustus 
Caesar, speaks of these tumuli, as being as ancient as they were 
sacred, even in his time. . 

In later times, after warriors arose and performed great and 
mighty deeds, the whole tribe or nation joined to raise, on some 
i high place,' generally, a lofty tumulus, for commemorative and 
sacred purposes. At first, sacrfices might have been, and probably 
were, offered on these tumuli, to the true God, as the Great Au- 
thor and Giver of life ; but in later times, they forgot Him, and 
worshipped the manes of heroes they had buried there. 

The conical mounds in Ohio, are either of stones or of earth. 
The former, in other countries, and in former ages, were intended 
as monuments, for the purpose of perpetuating the memory of some 



172 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

important event, or as altars whereon to offer sacrifices. The 
latter were used as cemeteries and as altars, whereon, in later 
times, temples were erected, as among the people of Greece and 
Rome. 

The tumuli, " are of various altitudes and dimensions, some be- 
ing. only four or five feet, and but ten or twelve in diameter, at 
their base; while others, as we travel to the south, rise to the height 
of eighty, ninety, and some more than an hundred feet, and cover 
many acres of ground. They are, generally, when completed, in 
the form of a cone. Those in the north part of Ohio, are of infe- 
rior size, and fewer in number, than those along the river. These 
mounds are believed to exist, from the Rocky mountains in the 
west, to the Alieghanies in the east ; from the southern shore of 
Lake Erie to the Mexican Gulf ; and though few and small in the 
north, are numerous and lofty in the south, yet exhibit proof of a 
common origin. 

On Jonathan creek, in Morgan county, are found some mounds, 
whose bases are formed of well burnt bricks, between four and five 
inches square. There are found lying on the bricks, charcoal cin- 
ders, and pieces of calcined human bones. Above them the mounds 
were composed of earth, showing, that the dead had been buried 
in the manner of several of the eastern nations, and the mounds 
raised afterwards to mark the place of their burial. 

One of them is about twenty-four feet in circumference, and the 
stones yet looli black, as if stained with fire and smoke. This cir- 
cle of stones seems to have been the nucleus on which the mound 
was formed, as immediately over them is heaped the common earth 
of the adjacent plain. This mound was originally about ten feet 
high, and ninety feet in circumference at its base ; and has every 
appearance of being as old as aDy in the neighborhood, and was, 
at the first settlement of Marietta, covered with large trees. 

A particular account of many curious articles, which go to show 
the person buried there was a member of civilized society, is given 
farther on in tiiis work, under the head of " a description of im- 
plements found in the tumuli." 

The person buried here was about six feet in height, nothing 
differing from other men in the form of his bones, except the skull, 
which was uncommonly thick. The timber growing on this mound, 
when it was cleared off, was ascertained to be nearly rive hundred 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 173 

years old, from counting the concentric circles or grains of the 
wood on the stumps. On the ground beside them were other trees 
in a state of decay, that had fallen from old age." 

If we were to conjecture, from this sort of data, how great a 
lapse of years has ensued since the abandonment of this mound, 
we should pursue the following method. From the time when 
the country became desolate of its inhabitants, till trees and forests 
would begin to grow, cannot well be reckoned less than five years. 
If then they are permitted to grow five hundred years, till as large 
and as old as some of the trees were on the mound when it was 
cleared by the people of Marietta, from that time till their natural 
decay and fall to the earth, and reduction to decayed wood, as was 
found on the mound, could not be less than three hundred years, 
in decaying so as to fall, and then fifty years to rot in ; this would 
give eight hundred and fifty-five years for the first growth of tim- 
ber. From this time we reckon a second crop, which we will sup- 
pose, was the one growing when the mound was cleared of its tim- 
ber ; which was, according to Mr. At water's statement, " between 
four and five hundred years ;" add this to the age of the first crop, 
say four hundred and fifty, and we have, in the w r hole, one thou- 
sand three hundred and five years, since it was deserted of its buil- 
ders. Dr. Cutler supposes at least a thousand years. Then it will 
follow, taking out the time since Marietta was settled, and the 
mound cleared of its timber, that the country was deserted about 
five hundred years after the commencement of the Christian era. 

About the same time, say from the year 410 to 500 of the Chris- 
tian era, the greater part of Europe was devastated by the Goths, 
the Huns, the Heriili, the Vandals, the Swevri, the Alians, and 
other savage tribes, all from the northern wilds of ancient Russia. 
By these the western empire of the Romans, comprehending Italy, 
Germany, France, Spain, and England, was subverted ; all litera- 
ture was obliterated, and the works of the learned, which contained 
the discoveries and improvements of ages, were annihilated. 

And from all we can make out by observing the growth of tim- 
ber, with that which is decayed, as found on the deserted works 
of the west, we are inclined to believe, that about the same period 
of time when Europe was overrun by the northern hordes, that 
the region now called the United States, where the ancient inhabit- 
ants had fixed their abode, was also overrun by northern hordes 



174 JiM2RICAN ANTIQUITIES 

from toward Bhering's i. traits, who had, in ages before, got across 
from Asia, the Tartars, or Scythians, and had multiplied ; and as 
they multiplied, progressed farther and farther southerly till they 
discovered an inhabited country, populous, and rich, upon whom 
they fell with all the fury of Attila and his Huns; till, after many 
a long and dreadful war, 4 hey were reduced in numbers, and driven 
from their country far to the south ; when the rich fields, vast 
cities, innumerable towns, with all their works, were reduced to 
the ancient dominion of nature, as it was when first overgrown im- 
mediately after the flood, except their vast pyramids, fortifications, 
and tumuli, these beLig of the same nature and durability of the 
hills and mountains, have stood the shock of w r ar and time — the 
monuments of powerful nations disappeared. 

" In clearing out u spring near some ancient ruins of the west, 
on the bank of the L :tle Miami, not far from its entrance into the 
Ohio, was found a copper coin, four feet below the surface of the 
earth ; from the fac s'mile of which it appears, that the characters 
on the coin are old Persian characters. — Morse's Universal Geogra- 
phy, Vol. l,jo. 442. 

The era of the Persians, as noticed on the page of history, was 
from 559, after the floe d, .till 334, before Christ, and were a people 
of great strength, of e n erprising character, and enlightened in the 
arts and sciences; an for aught that can be objected, traversed 
the globe, planted colonies, perhaps even in America, as the coin, 
which lay so deep beneath the surface of the earth, would seem to 
justify ; which w r as truly a Persian coin of coppey. 

At Cincinnati, a mound, only eight feet high, but one hundred 
and twenty long, by sixty in breadth, has been opened, and is now 
almost obliterated, by "he construction of Main-street, which has 
furnished many curicu._> discoveries relative to the ancient inhabi- 
tants who built it. Of the articles taken from thence, many have 
been lost ; but the mo >t worthy of notice are embraced in the fol- 
lowing catalogue: 

1st. Pieces of jasper, rock crystal, granite and some other stones, 
cylindrical at the extremes, and swelled in the middle, with an an- 
nular groove near the end. 2d. A circular piece of stone coal, with 
a large opening in the centre, as if for an axis or axletree, and a 
deep groove ; the circumference suitable for a hand ; it has a num- 
ber of small perforations, disposed in four equidistant lines, which 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 176 

run from the circumference towards the centre. 3d, A small ar- 
ticle of the same shape, with eight lines of perforations, but com- 
posed of argilaceous earth, well polished. 4th. A bone ornamented 
with several lines, supposed to be hieroglyphical. 5th. A sculp- 
tured representation of the head and beak of a rapacious bird, re- 
sembling the eagle. 6th. A mass of lead ore, lumps of which have 
been found in other tumuli. 7th. A quantity of isinglass, (mica 
membranacea,) several plates of which have been found in and 
about other mounds. 8th. A small oval piece of sheet copper, with 
two perforations ; a large oblong piece of the same metal, with 
longitudinal grooves and ridges. 

These articles are described in the fourth and fifth volumes of the 
American Philosophical Transactions, by Coverneur Sargeant and 
Judge Turner, and were supposed, by Philosopher Barton, to have 
been designed, in part, for ornament, and, in part, for superstitious 
ceremonies. In addition to which, the author, (Mr. Atwater,) says, 
he has since discovered, in the same mound, a number of beads, or 
sections, of small hollow cylinders, apparently of bone or shell. 

Several large marine shells, cut in such a manner as to serve for 
domestic utensils, and nearly converted into a state of chalk ; seve- 
ral copper articles, each consisting of two sets of circular concavo 
convex plates, the interior of each set connected with the other by 
a hollow axis, around which had been wound some lint, and the 
whole encompassed by the bones of a man's hand. About the pre- 
cincts of this town, Cincinnati, human bones have been found "of 
different sizes ; sometimes enclosed in rude stone coffins, but 
oftener lying blended with the earth ; generally surrounded by a 
portion of ashes and charcoal," as if they had been burnt either 
alive or dead, as the Hindoos burn both the dead husband and the 
living wife, on the same funeral pile. See Ward's History of the 
Hindoos, page 57 ; where he states, " that not less than five thou- 
sand of these unfortunate women, it is supposed, are burnt annu- 
ally." The ancient Jews practised the sain? thing ; see Amos, 6th 
chap. 10th verse : " And a man's uncle shall take him up, and he 
that burnetii him, to bring out the bones ou; of the house." The 
ancient Edomites burnt the dead bodies of t leir captured enemies. 
See Amos 2d chap. 1st verse : " He," that 's Edom, " burned the 
bones of the king of Edom into lime." Tht same may have been 
practised in America. 



176 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES . 

Besides these relics found at Marietta, others, equally interest- 
ing, have been procured from a mound on the Little Muskingum, 
about four miles from Marietta. There are some pieces of copper 
which appear to have been the front part of a helmet. It was 
originally about eight inches long and/owr broad, and has marks of 
having been attached to leather ; it is much decayed, and is now 
quite a thin plate. 

The helmet was worn by the ancients as a defence against the 
blows of the sword, aimed at the head. The Greeks, the Ro- 
mans, with many other nations of antiquity, made use of this ma- 
jestic, beautiful, warlike covering of the head. But how came 
this part of the ancient armor in America ? This is the mystery, 
and cannot be solved, only on the principle, that we believe the 
wearers lived in those ages coeval with the martial exploits of the 
Medes, Persians, Carthaginians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and of 
the Celtic nations of Europe. 

In the same mound on the Muskingum, was found a copper or- 
nament ; this was on the forehead of a human skeleton, no part of 
which retained its form, except that part of the forehead where 
the copper ornament lay, and had been preserved no doubt by the 
salts of that mineral. In Virginia, near Blacksburgh, eighty miles 
from Marietta, there was found the half of a steel bow, which, when 
entire, would measure five or six feet ; the other .part was corroded 
or broken. The father of the lad who found the bow, was a black- 
smith, and worked up this curious article with as little remorse as 
he would an old gun barrel. 

In the 18th Psalm, 34th verse, mention is -made by David, king 
of Israel, of the steel bow, which must have been a powerful in- 
strument of death, of the kind, and probably well known to the 
Jews, as superior to the wooden bow. This kind of warlike artil- 
lery, the bow and arrow, has been used by all nations, and in all 
ages of time. The time of King David was about one thousand 
one hundred years before Christ ; when, he says, a bow of steel 
was broken by his own arm. This must have been done in some 
of his fights with the enemies of Saul, as it is very probable that 
he fought personally after he came to the kingdom ; and from his 
earnestness in the fight, drew the string of his bow too far, so that 
the instrument could not bear it, consequently it snapped asunder ; 
which circumstance he has celebrated in the praises of the God of 



A.ND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 177 

Israel, as an evidence of the aid and strength derived from Heaven 
in the heat of battle. 

But Dr. Clarke supposes, steel is out of the question, as he thinks 
the art of making steel was unknown at that time, and believes the 
bow alluded to, which was broken by David, was a brass one, but 
it is unknown to the writer of this work, whether brass will spring 
at all so as to throw an arrow with any effect. But why may not 
steel have been known, and the art of producing it from iron, in 
the time of David, as well as the art of making brass, which is 
equally hidden, and more so than that of steel ? Tubal Cain was 
a worker in brass and iron y before the flood ; and we should sup- 
pose the way to procure steel from iron, would as soon have been 
discovered by the antediluvian blacksmiths, as knowledge how to 
make brass from a union of copper and zinc. 

The discovery of this steel bow, in the west, is exceedingly cu- 
rious, and would seem to justify the belief, that it came from the 
old world, as an instrument of warfare in the hands of some of the 
Asiatic, African, or European nations, possibly Danes, as the pre- 
sent Indian nations were found destitute of every kind of bow and 
arrowy except that of wood. 

" In Ross county, near Chilicothe, a few years since, was found, 
in the hand of a skeleton, which lay buried in a small mound, an 
ornament of pure gold ; this curiosity, it is said, is now in the Mu- 
seum at Philadelphia." — Atwater. The tumuli, in what is called 
the Sciota country, are both numerous and interesting. But south 
of Lake Erie, until we arrive at Worthington, nine miles north of 
Columbus, they are few in number, and of comparatively small 
magnitude. Near Columbus, the seat of government of Ohio, were 
several mounds, one of which stood on an eminence in the princi- 
pal street, which has been entirely removed, and converted into 
bricks. It contained human bones, some few articles, among which 
was an owl carved in stone, a rude but very exact representation. 

The oiwZ, among the Romans, was the emblem of wisdom, and 
it is not impossible but the ancients of the w T est, may have carved 
it in the stone for the same reason ; who may have been, in part, 
Romans, or nations derived from them, or nations acquainted with 
their manners, their gods, and their sculpture, as we suppose the 
Danes were. 

" In another part of the town of Columbus, was a tumulus of 

23 



1*78 AMERICAN- ANTIQUITIES 

clay, which was also manufactured into bricks. In this were 
many human bones ; but they lay in piles, and in confusion," 
which would seem to elicit the belief, that these were the bones 
of an enemy, or they would have been laid in their accus- 
tomed order. Or they may have been the bones of the conquered, 
thrown together in a confused manner, and buried beneath this 
mound. 

As we still descend the Sciota, through a most fertile region of 
country, mounds and other ancient works, frequently appear, until 
we arrive at Circleville- Near the centre of the circular fort at 
Circleville, was a tumulus of earth, about ten feet high, and seve- 
ral rods in diameter at its base. On its eastern side, and extend- 
ing six rods from it, was a semicircular pavement, composed of 
pebbles such as are now found in the bed of Sciota river, from 
whence they appear to have been taken- The summit of this tu- 
mulus was nearly ninety feet in circumference, with a raised way 
to it, leading from the east, like modem turnpike- The summit 
was level. The outline of the semicircular pavement, and the 
walk, are still discernible. Mr. Atwater was present when this 
mound was removed, and carefully examined the contents it de- 
veloped. They were as follows ; First ; two skeletons, lying on 
what had been the original surface of the earth. Second ; a great 
quantity of arrow heads, some of which were so large as to induce 
a belief that they were used for spear heads. Third ; the handle, 
either of a small sword, or a large knife, made of an elk's horn ; 
around the end where the blade had been inserted, was a ferule of 
silver, which, though black, was not much injured by time ; though 
the handle showed the hole where the blade had been inserted, yet 
no iron was found, but an oxyde or rust remained, of similar shape 
and size. The swords of the ancient nations of the old world, it 
is known, were very short. Fourth ; charcoal, and wood ashes, on 
which these- articles lay, were surrounded by several bricks, very 
well burnt. The skeleton appeared to have been burnt in a large 
and very hot fire, which had almost consumed the bones of the de- 
ceased. This skeleton was deposited a little to the south of the 
centre of the tumulus ; and about twenty feet to the north of it 
was another, with which was found a large mirror, about three feet 
in length, one foot and a half in width, and one inch and a half in 
thickness ; this was of isinglass, (mica membranacea.) 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 179 

On this mirror was a plate of iron, which had become an oxyde ; 
but before it was disturbed by the spade, resembled a plate of cast 
iron. The mirror answered the purpose very well for which it was 
intended. This skeleton had also been burned like the former, 
and lay on charcoal and a considerable quantity of wood ashes; a 
part of the mirror is in the possession of Mr, Atwater, as also a 
piece of brick, taken frpm the spot at the time, The knife, or 
sword handle, was sent to Peale ? s museum, Philadelphia, To the 
southwest of this tumulus, about forty rods from it, is another, more 
than ninety feet in height. It stands on a large hill, which appears 
to be artificial This must have been the common cemetry 3 as it 
contains an immense number of human skeletons, of all sizes and 
ages. These skeletons are laid horizontally, with their heads gen- 
erally towards the centre, and the feet towards the outside of the 
tumulus. In it have been found, besides these skeletons, stone 
axes and stone knives, and several ornaments, with holes through 
them, by means of which, with a cord passing through these perfo- 
rations, they could be worn by their owners. 

On the south side of this tumulus, and not far from it, was a 
semicircular fosse, or ditch, six feet deep ; which, when examin- 
ed at the bottom, was found to contain a great quantity of human 
bones, which, it is believed, were the remains of those who had 
been slain in some great and destructive battle ; because they be- 
longed to persons invariably who had attained their full size - 3 while 
those found in the mound adjoining, were of all sizes, great and 
small, but laid in good order, while those in the ditch were in the 
utmost confusion ; and were, no doubt, the conquered invaders, 
buried thus ingloriously, where they had intrenched themselves, 
and fell in the struggle. 

The mirror was a monstrous piece of isinglass, a lucid mineral, 
larger than we recollect to have ever heard of before, and used 
among the rich of the ancients, for lights and mirrors. A mirror of 
any kind, in which men may be enabled to contemplate their own 
form, is evidence of a considerable degree of advancement in the 
arts, if not even of luxury itself. 

The Rev. Robert G. Wilson, D. D., of Chilicothe, furnished the 
Antiquarian Society, with information concerning the mound, which 
once stood near the centre of that town. He took pains to write 
down its contents at the time of its demolition. Its perpendicular 



180 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

height was about fifteen feet, and the circumference of its base 
about one hundred and eighty feet, composed of sand. It was not 
till this pile of earth had been removed, that the original design of 
its builders could be discovered. On a common level with the sur- 
rounding earth, at the very bottom of this mound, they had devoted 
about twenty feet square ; this was found to have been covered at 
first with bark, on which lay, in the centre, a human skeleton, 
overspread with a mat, manufactured from weeds or bark, but 
greatly decayed. 

On the breast of this person lay what had been a piece of cop- 
per in the form of a c?vss, which had become verdigris ; on the 
breast also lay a stone ornament, three inches in length, and two 
and a half in width, with two perforations, one near each end, 
through which passed a string, by means of which it was suspend- 
ed from the wearer's neck. On this string, which appeared to 
have been made of the sinews of some animal, which had been 
cured or tanned, but were very much injured by time, was strung 
a great many beads, made of ivory, or bone, he could not tell which. 

With these facts before us, we are left to conjecture at what 
time this individual lived, what were his heroic deeds in the field 
of battle ; his wisdom, his virtues, his eloquence in the councils 
of his nation ; for his cotemporaries have testified in a manner not 
to be mistaken, that among them he was held in honorable and 
grateful remembrance, by the mound which was raised over him 
at his decease. 

The cross on the breast of this skeleton, excites the most sur- 
prise, as :Iiat the cross is the emblem of the Christian religion. It 
is true, a knowledge of this badge of Christianity, may have been 
disseminated from Jerusalem, even as far east as to China ; as we 
know it was at a very early period, made known in many countries 
of Europe, Africa, and Asia; especially, at the era when the Ro- 
man emperor Constantine, in the year 331, ordered all the heathen 
temples to be destroyed, for the sake of Christianity, throughout 
his vast dominion. 

The reader may recollect, we have elicited an argument, from 
the age of the timber, or forest trees, growing on the mound, at 
Marietta, proposing to show the probable era when the country be- 
came depopulated; and come to the conclusion, that at least, about 
thirteen hundred years have passed away since that catastrophe. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN TllE WEST. 181 

This would give about five hundred years from Christ till the 
depopulation of the ancient western country ; so that, during the 
lapse of those five centuries, a knowledge of what had been propa- 
gated at Jerusalem about Christ, may have been, easily enough by 
missionaries, travelling philosophers of the Romans, Greeks, or of 
other nations, carried as well to China, as to other distant countries, 
as we know was the fact. 

The string of beads, and the stone on his breast, w T hich we take 
the liberty of calling the Shalgramu stone, or the stone in which 
the Hindoos suppose the god Vishuoo resides ; together with the 
copper cross on his breast, and beads on his neck, are circumstances^ 
which strongly argue that a mixture of Brahminism and Christianity 
were embraced by this individual. To prove that the wearing of 
beads around the neck, or on the arm, for the purposes of devotion, 
is a religious Hindoo custom, we refer to Ward's late history of 
those nations, who was a Baptist missionarj?-, among that people, 
and died in that country. This author says, page 40, that. Brumha, 
the grandfather of the gods, holds in his hand, a string of beads, 
as an evidence of his devotion or goodness. Ungee, the regent of 
fire, is represented with a bend roll in his hand, to show that he is 
merciful or propitious to those who call upon him. — Page 45. 

The Hindoo mendicants, or saints, as they suppose themselves, 
have invariably, a string of beads, made of bone, teeth of animals, 
ivory, stones, or the seeds of plants, or of something, hanging about 
their necks, or on their arms, which they recount, calling over and 
over, without end, the name of the god, as evidence of devotion to 
him. — Page 422. 

The devotions of the ascetic disciples among the Hindoos, con- 
sists in repeating incessantly the name of their god, using, at the 
same time, the bead roll, or rosary, as the catholics do. — Page 427. 

" Strings of beads were used for this purpose, from remotest anti- 
quity, in all eastern Asia." — Humboldt, p. 204. 

This author further says, " the ros&rie," which is a string of 
beads, "have been in use in Thibet and China, from time imme- 
morial ; and that the custom, passed from the east, viz : China, to 
the Christians in the west, viz : Europe ;" and are found among 
the catholics ; no other sect of Christians, that we know of, have 
borrowed any trappings from the pagans, to aid their devotions } 
but this. 



182 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

The stone found on his breast, as before remarked, we assume to 
call the Shalgramu stone. See also, Ward's account of this stone, 
page 41 and 44, as follows : 

A stone called the Shalgramu is a form of the god Vishnoo, and 
is in another case, the representative of the god Saoryu, or the 
sun. — Page 52. 

The Shalgramu, or Lingu, is a black stone, found in a part of 
the Gundeekee river. They are mostly perforated, in one or more 
places, by worms, while at the bottom of the river ; but the Hin- 
doos believe the god Vishnoo, in the shape of a reptile, resides in 
this stone, and caused the holes. 

With this belief, how very natural it would be to wear on the 
breast, either in view or concealed, this stone, as an amulet, or 
charm, as found on the breast of this skeleton, in union, with the 
cross. 

We are inclined to believe, that the Roman Catholic religion, 
borrowed, at a very early period, after their peculiar formation and 
corruption, subsequent to the time of Constactine, the notion of 
the rosary, or bead roll, which they recount while saying prayers, 
from the Hindoos ; and that from Christian missionaries, the Hin- 
doo Brahmins borrowed the idea of the cross, which they might 
also wear, together with the Lingu stone, as an amulet or charm. 
For we see on the breast of this person, both the emblem of Chris- 
tianity, and of the Hindoos 5 superstition, on which account, we are 
of the opinion, that the ministers of the Brahmin religion, lie buried 
beneath many of the western mounds. 

Mr. Ward informs us, page 272, that near the town of Dravina, 
in Hondostan-hu, are shown to this day, or at the time he lived in 
India, four small elevations, or mounds, from the top of which, the 
great ascetic philosopher, Shunkuracharyu, used to teach and ha- 
rangue the people and his disciples. From this circumstance, we 
catch a glimpse of the oraiorial use of the mounds in the east ; 
and why not the same use be derived from them to the ancient 
people of the west ; and more especially so, if they may be be- 
lieved to have, in any measure, derived themselves from any na- 
tions of the Chinese world. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 183 



GREAT WORKS OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS ON THE NORTH 
FORK OF PAINT CREEK. 

On the north branch of this creek, five miles from Chilicothe, 
are works so immense, that although we have given the reader 
several accounts of this kind, yet we cannot well pass over these. 

They are situated on an elevated piece of land, called the second 
bottom. The first bottom, or flat, extends from Paint Creek, till 
it is met by a bank of twenty-five feet .in height, which runs in 
a straight line, and parallel with the stream. An hundred rods 
from the top of this first bank, is another bank, of thirty feet in 
height ; the wall of the works runs up this bank, and twenty rods 
beyond it. The whole land enclosed, is six hundred and twenty- 
rods in circumference, and contains one hundred and twenty-six 
acres of land. 

This second bank, runs also parallel with the creek, and with 
the first. On this beautiful elevation, is situated this immense 
work, containing within it, seventeen mounds of different sizes. 
Three hundred and eighty rods of this fort are encompassed with 
a wall twelve feet high, a ditch twenty feet wide, and the wall 
the same at its base. Two hundred and forty rods, running along 
on the top of the first bank 3 is the rest of the wall ; but is without a 
ditch ; this is next to the river or creek, between which and the 
water, is the first bottom or flat. Within this great enclosure, is a 
circular work of an hundred rods in circumference, with a wall 
and ditch surrounding it, of the same height of the other wall. 
Within this great circle, are six mounds, of the circular form ; these 
are full of human bones ; the rest of the mounds, eleven in num* 
ber, are for some other purpose. There are seven gateways, of 
about five rods in width each. " The immense labor, and nume- 
rous cemeteries filled with human bones, denote a vast populuation, 
near this spot, in ancient thues." — Atwater. 

" Tumuli are very common on the river Ohio, from its utmost 
sources to its mouth, although on the Monongahela, they are few, 
and comparatively small, but increase in number and size, as we 
descend towards the mouth of that stream at Pittsbnrgh ? where the 



1S4 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Ohio begins ; after this they are still more numerous and of greater 
dimensions, till we arrive at Grave Creek, below WheeliDg. 

At this place, situated between two creeks, which run into the 
Ohio, a little way from the river, is one of the most extraordinary 
and august monuments of antiquity, of the mound description. Its 
circumference at its base, is fifty-six rods, its perpendicular height 
ninety feet, its top seven rods and eight feet in circumference. 
The centre at the summit, appears to have sunk several feet, so as 
to form a kind of amphitheatre. The rim enclosing this concavity 
is seven or eight feet in thickness ; on the south side, in the edge 
of this rim, stands a large beach tree, the bark of which is marked 
with the initials of a great number of visitants." 

This lofty and venerable tumulus has been so far opened as to 
ascertain that it contains many thousands of human skeletons, but 
no farther ; the proprietor, will not sutler its demolition, in the 
smallest degree, for which he is highly praise-worthy. 

Following the river Ohio downwards, the mounds appear on both 
-sides, erected uniformly, on the highest alluvials, along that stream, 
increasing in numbers all the way to the Mississippi, on which 
river they assume the largest size. 

Not having surveyed them, says Mr. Atwater, we shall use the 
description of Mr. Breckenridge, who travelled much in the west, 
and among the Indians, and devoted much attention to the subject 
of these astonishing western antiquties. 

These tumuli, says Mr. Breckenridge, as well as the fortifica- 
tions, are to be found at the junction of all the livers, along the 
Mississippi, in the most eligible positions for towns, and in the most 
extensive bodies of fertile land. Their number exceeds, perhaps, 
three thousand ; the smallest, not less than twenty feet in height, 
and three hundred in circumference at the base. Their great num- 
ber, and their amazing size, may be regarded as furnishing, with 
other circumstances, evidence of their great antiquity. 

I have been sometimes induced to think, that at the period when 
these weje constructed, there was a population as numerous as that 
which once animated the borders of the Nile, or of the Euphrates. 
The most numerous, as well as the most considerable of these re- 
mains, are found precisely in those parts of the country where the 
traces of a numerous population might be looked for, namely, from 
the mouth of the Ohio, on the east side of the river, to the Illinois, 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 185 

and on the west side, from the St. Francis to the Missouri. I am 
perfectly satisfied that cities, similar to those of ancient Mexico, of 
several hundred thousand souls, have existed in this western coun- 
try . ' ' — Breckenridge . 

From this view, we are compelled to look upon those nations as 
agriculturists, or they could not have subsisted ; neither wild game 
nor fish could possibly support so great a population. If agricul- 
turists, then it must follow, of necessity, that many modes of 
building, as with stone, timber^ earth or clay, were practised and 
known 3 as well as methods of clearing the earth of heavy timber. 
And if they had not a knowledge of metals, we cannot well con- 
ceive how they could have removed the forests for the purposes of 
husbandry, and space for building. But if we suppose they did 
not build bouses with wood, stone and brick, but lived in tents or 
some fragile hut, yet the use of metals cannot be dispensed with, 
on account of the forests to be removed for agricultural purposes. 
Baron Humboldt informs us, in his Researches in South America, 
that when he crossed the Cordillera mountains, by the way of Pa- 
nama and Assuay, and viewed the enormous masses of stone cut 
from the porphyry quarries of Pullal, which was employed in con- 
structing the ancient highroads of the Incas, that he began to doubt 
whether the Peruvians were not acquainted with other tools than 
hatchets made of flint and stone ; and that grinding one stone on 
another to make them smooth and level, was not the only method 
they had employed in this operation. On which aecount, he adopt- 
ed a new opinion, contrary to those generally received. He con- 
jectured that they must have had tools made of copper, hardened 
with tin, such as it is known the early nations of Asia made use of. 
This conjecture was fully sustained by the discovery of an ancient 
Peruvian mining chisel, in a silver mine at Vilcabamba, which had 
been worked in the time of the Incas. This instrument of copper 
was twelve centimeters long and two broad 3 or in English measure^ 
four inches long, and three-fourths of an inch wide ; which he car- 
ried with him to Europe, where he had it analyzed, and found it 
to contain ninety-four parts of copper and six of tin. He says, 
that this keen copper of the Peruvians is almost identically the 
same with that of the ancient Galic axe, which cut wood nearly as 
well as if made of iron and steel. 

Every where, on the old continent, at the beginning of the civil- 

84 



186 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

ization of nations, the use of copper, mixed with tin, prevailed over 
that of iron, even in places where the latter had been for a long 
time known. Antonio de Herera, in the tenth book of his History 
of the West Indies, says, expressly, that the inhabitants of the 
maritime coast of Zocatallan, in South America, prepared two sorts 
of copper, of which one was hard and cutting, and the other 
maleable ; the hard copper was to make hatchets, weapons, and 
instruments of agriculture with, and that it was tempered with tin. 
— Humboldt, vol. 1, pages 260 — 268. 

Among a great variety of the gods of the people of the Tonga 
Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean, is found one god, named To-gi 
Ocummea ; which is, literally, the iron axe. From which circum- 
stance we imagine the people of those islands, sometimes called 
the Friendly Islands, were, at some period before their having been 
discovered by Captain Cook, acquainted with the use of iron, and 
consequently in a more civilized condition. Because men, in those 
early times, were apt to deify almost every thing, but especially 
those things the most useful. 

Were the people of Christendom to lose their knowledge of the 
true God, and to fall back into nature's ignorance, is there an ar- 
ticle, within the compass of the arts, which would, from its useful- 
ness, have a higher claim to deification, than the metal called iron. 

That group of islands belongs to the immense range shooting out 
from New- Holland, in south latitude about 20 degrees, and once 
perhaps were united to China, forming a part of the continent. 
But however this may be, the first inhabitants of those islands were 
derived from China, and carried with them a knowledge of the 
arts ; among which was that cf the use of iron, in the form ox the 
axe, which it appears had become deified from its usefulness. 

The reason of the loss of this knowledge, must have been the 
separation of their country from the continent, by convulsions, from 
age to age; which not only altered the shape £Li condition of the 
land, but threw the inhabitants into confusion, separating them far 
from each other, the sea running between, so that they became re- 
duced to savagism, as they were found by the first Christian na- 
vigators. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 187 



TRAITS OF ANCIENT CITIES ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 

Nearly opposite St, Louis, there are the traces of two ancient 
cities, in the distance of a few miles, situated on the Cohokia creek, 
which empties into the Mississippi but a short distance below that 
place. Here is situated one of those Pyramids, which is an hun- 
dred and fifty rods in circumference at its base, (nearly an half 
mile,) and one hundred feet high. At St. Louis is one with two 
stages or landing places, as the architectural phrase is. There is 
another with three stages, at the mouth of the Missouri, a few 
miles above St. Louis. With respect to the stages, or landing 
places of these pyramids, we are reminded of the tower once 
standing in old Babylon, which had eight stages from its base to 
the summit, making it six hundred feet high, 

At the mouth of the Cohokia creek, a short distance below St. 
Louis, are two groups of those mounds, of smaller size, but we are 
not informed of their exact number. At Bayeau Manchac and 
Baton Rouge, are several mounds, one of which is composed chiefly 
of shells, which the inhabitants burn into lime. There is a mound 
on Black river, which has two stages or stories ; this is surrounded 
with a group of lesser ones, as well as those at Bayeau Manchac, 
and Baton Eouge. There is one of those pyramids near Washing- 
ton, in the state of Mississippi, which is one hundred and forty-six 
feet high ; which u but little short of nine rods perpendicular ele- 
vation, and fifty-six rods in circumference. Mr. Breckenridge is 
of the opinion that the largest city, belonging to this people, the 
authors of the mounas and other we:ks, was situated on the plains 
between St. Francis and the Arkansas. There is no doubt but in 
the neighborhood of St. Louis must have been cities or large towns 
of these ancient people ; as the number and size of the mounds 
above recounted would most certainly justify. 

Ffteen miles in a southwesterly direction from the town of St. 
Louis, on the Merimac river, was discovered, by a Mr. Long, on 
lands which he had purchased there, several mounds of the ordi- 
nary size, as found in the valley of the Mississippi, all of which 
go to establish that this country, lying between the Missouri and 



188 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

the Mississippi rivers, below St. Louis, and between the junction of 
the Illinois and the Mississippi above, with the whole region about 
the union of those rivers with each other, — which are all not far 
from St. Louis — was once the seat of empire ; equal, if not sur- 
passing the population and the arts, as once they flourished on the 
plains of Shinar, the seat of Chaldean power, and on the banks of 
the Euphrates. 

It was on the lands of this gentleman, Mr. Long, that the disco- 
very of a burying ground, containing a vast number of small tumu- 
li, or graves, took place. On opening these graves, there were 
found deposited, in stone coffins, composed of stone slabs, six in 
number, forming the bottom, sides and top, with end pieces ; the 
skeletons of a race of human beings apparently of but from three 
to four feet in height. This discovery excited much surprise, and 
called forth, from several pens, the conjectures of able men, who 
published a variety of opinions respecting them. Some imagined 
them to be the relics of race of pigmy inhabitants who had be- 
come extinct. Others on account of the size of the teeth, which 
denoted full grown and adult persons, conjectured them to be the 
skeletons of a race of baboons or monkeys, from the shortness of 
their stature. From this opinion arose another conjecture, that 
they had been the objects of worship to the ancient nations, as they 
had been sometimes among the earlier Egyptians. 

The bones of these subjects were entirely destroyed, and re- 
duced to ashes of a white chalky consistency, except the teeth, 
which were perfect, being made imperishable from their enamel. 
Many of these graves were opened, and the inmates found not to 
exceed three and four feet. At length one was opened, and the 
skeleton it contained appeared to be of the full size of a large man, 
except its length ; however, this, on close inspection, was found to 
have had its legs disjointed at the knees, and placed along side the 
thigh bones, which at once, in the eyes of some, accounted for the 
statures of the whole. 

Such a custom is, indeed, singular ; and among all the discove- 
ries of those ancient traits, nothing to compare with this has come 
to light. Respecting this instance of short skeletons, it has been 
also urged, that as certain tribes of the common Indians, now in- 
habiting the upper shores of the Missouri, place their dead on 
scaffolds and in baskets^ fastened to the limbs of trees, till their 



ANl> DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 189 

8esh becomes separated from the bones, that the authors of these 
short graves did the same. And that when by this process, they 
had become fair and white, they deposited them in small coffins, as 
discovered on the farm of Mr. Long. But although this is doubt- 
less true respecting the Missouri Indians, yet we have no account 
of short graves having been found among them. But as we are 
unable to cast light on this discovery, we shall leave it as we found 
it — a great curiosity. 



TRADITION OF THE MEXICAN NATIVES RESPECTING THEIR 
MIGRATION FROM THE NORTH. 

In corroboration of Mr. At water's opinion, with respect to the 
gradual remove of the ancient people of the west toward Mexico, 
we subjoin what we have gathered from the Researches of Baron 
Humboldt, on that point. See Helen Maria William's translation 
of Humboldt's Researches in South America, vol. 2, p. 67. From 
which it appears the people inhabiting the vale of Mexico, at the 
time the Spaniard's overrun that country, were called Aztecks, or 
Aztekas ; and were, as the Spanish history informs us, usurpers, 
having come from the north, from a country which they called 
Aztalan. 

This country of Aztalan, Baron Humboldt says, " we must look 
for at least north of the 42d degree of latitude." He comes to this 
conclusion from an examination of the Mexican or Azteca manu- 
scripts, which were made of a certain kind of leaves, and of skins 
prepared ; on which, an account in painted hieroglyphics or pic- 
tures, was given of their migration from Aztalan to Mexico, and 
how long they halted at certain places, which, in the aggregate, 
amounts to " four hundred and sixteen years." • 

The following names of places appear on their account of their 
journeyings, at which places they made less or more delay, and 
built towns, forts, tumuli, &c. 

1st. A place of Humiliation, and a place of Grottoes. It would 
seem at this place they were much afflicted and humbled ; but in 
what manner is not related ; and also at this place, from the term 



190 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

grottoes, that it was a place of caverns and dens, probably where 
they at first hid, dwelt till they built a town and cleared the 
ground. Here they built the places which they called Tocalcc 
and Oztatan. 

2d Journey ; they stopped at a place of fruit trees ; probably 
meaning, as it was farther south, a place where nature was abun- 
dant in nuts, grapes, and wild fruit trees. Here they built a mound 
or tumuli, and, in their language, it is called a Teocali. 

3d Journey ; when they stopped at a place of herbs, with broad 
leaves ; probably meaning a place where many succulent plants 
grew, denoting a good soil ; which invited them to pitch their tents 
here. 

4th Journey ; when they came to a place of human bona ; where 
they, either during their stay had battles with each other, or with 
some enemy, or they may have found them already there, the relics 
of other nations before them ; for, according to Humboldt, this migra- 
tion of the Aztecas, took place A. D. 778 ; so that other nations 
certainly had preceded them, also from the north. 
5th Journey ; they came to a place of Eagles. 
6th Journey; to a place of precious stones, and minerals. 
7th Journey ; to a place of spinning, where they manufactured 
clothing of cotton, barks, or of something proper for clothing of 
some sort, and mats of rushes and feathers. 

8th Journey ; they came to another place of eagles, called the 
Eagle-mountain, or in their own language, Quaaktli Tepee: Tepee, 
says Humboldt, in the Turkish language, is the word for mountain; 
which two words are so near alike, tepee and tepe, that it would 
seem almost an Arab word, or a word used by the Turks. 

9th. Journey ; when they came to a place of walls, and the se- 
ven grottoes ; which shows the place had been inhabited before, 
and these seven grottoes were either caves in the earth, or were 
made in the side of some mountain, by those who had preceded 
them. 

10th Journey ; when they came to a place of thistles, sand and 
vultures. 

11th Journey ; when they came to a place of Obsideon Mirrors, 
which is much the same with that of isiiiglass, scientifically called 
micae membranacae. This mineral substance is frequently found 
in the tumuli of the west, and is called, by the Mexicans, the shin- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 191 

ing god. The obsideon stone ? however, needs polishing, before it 
will answer as a mirror. 

12th Journey ; came to a place of water, probably some lake, or 
beautiful fountains, which invited their residence there ; on the ac- 
count not only of the water, but for fishing and game. 

13th Journey; they came to the place of the Divine Monkey^ 
called in their own language, Teozomoco. Here, it would seem, 
they set up the worship of the monkey, or baboon, as the ancient 
Egyptians are known to have done. This animal is found in Mex- 
ico or New Spain, according to Humboldt. 

14th Journey ; when the came to a high mountain, probably 
with table lands on it; which they called Chopaltepec, or mountain 
of locusts. A place, says Baron Humboldt, celebrated for the mag- 
nificent view from the top of this hill ; which, it appears, is in the 
Mexican country, and probably not far from the vale of Mexico ; 
where they finally permanently rested. 

15th Journey ; when they came to the vale of Mexico ; having 
here met with the prodigy, or fulfilment of the prophecy, or oracle, 
which at their outset from the country of Aztalan, Huehuetlapallan, 
and Amaquemecan ; which was (see Humboldt, 2d vol. p. 185,) 
that the migrations of the Aztecks should not terminate till the 
chiefs of the nation should meet wild an eagle perched on a cactus 
tree ; at such a place they might found a city. This was, as their 
bull-hide books inform us, in the vale of Mexico, 

We have related this account of the Azteca migration from the 
country of Aztaten, Huehuetlapallan, and Amaquemecan, from the 
regions of north latitude 42 degrees, merely to show that the coun- 
try, provinces, or districts, so named in their books, must have been 
the country of Ohio, Mississippi and Illinois, with the whole region 
thereabout ; for these are not far from the very latitude named by 
Humboldt as the region of Aztalan, &c. 

The western country is now distinguished, by the general name 
of the " lake country," and why, because it is a country of lakes ; 
and for the same reason, it was called the Mexicans, Azteca, In- 
dians, Aztalan, because in their language, atl is water, from which 
Aztalan is doubtless a derivitive as well also as their own name as 
a nation, or title, which was Astecas, or people of the Lakes. 

This account, derived from the Mexicans since their reduction 
by the Spaniards, gathered from the researches of learned travel* 



192 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

lers, who have, for the very purpose of learning the origin of the 
people of this country, penetrated not only into the forest retreats 
in the woods of Mexico, but into the mysteries of their hard lan- 
guage, their theology, philosophy and astronomy. This account of 
their migration, as related above, is corroborated by the tradition of 
the Wyandot Indians. 

We come to a knowledge of this tradition, by the means of a 
Mr. William Walker, some time Indian agent for our government ; 
who, it seems, from a pamphlet published, 1823, by Frederick 
Falley, of Sandusky, giving Mr. Walker's account, that a great 
many hundred years ago the ancient inhabitants of America, who 
were the authors of the great works of the west, were driven away 
from their country and possessions, by barbarous and savage hordes 
of warriors, who came from the north and northeast ; before whose 
power and skill in war, they were compelled to flee, and went to 
the south. 

After having been there many hundred years, a runner came 
back into the same country, from whence the ancient people had 
been driven, which we suppose is the very country of Aztalan, or 
the region of the western states ; bringing the intelligence, that a 
dreadful beast had landed on their coast along the sea, which was 
spreading among them havoc and death, by means of fire and thun- 
der ; and that it would, no doubt, travel all over the country, for 
the same purpose of destruction. 

This beast whose voice was like thunder, and whose power to 
kill was like fire, we have no doubt, represents the cannon and 
small arms of the Spaniards, when they first commenced the mur- 
der of the ancient people of South America ; manytribes or nations 
of which were, from time to time, derived from the northern part 
of our continent, long before the northern hordes devastated the 
country of Aztalan, Huehuetlapan, and Amaquemecan, and with 
good reason, believed to be from Asia ; of Tartar, Hebrew, and 
Scythian origin ; from their dreadful propensity to war and blood- 
shed, which is still characteristic of our northern and western In- 
dians. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 193 



SUPPOSED USES OF THE ANCIENT ROADS CONNECTED WITH 
THE MOUNDS. 

Ancient roads, or highways, which in many parts of the west, 
are found walled in on both sides for many miles, where the forest 
trees are growing as abundant, and as large, and aged, as in any 
part of the surrounding woods. 

We have already mentioned several roads which have always 
been found connected with some great works ; as at Piketon, Ports- 
mouth, Newark, Licking county, and at the works on the Little 
Miami river* These roads where they have been traced, are found 
to communicate with some mound, or mountain, which had been 
shaped by art to suit the purposes of those who originated these 
stupendous works The circumstance of their being walled in by 
banks of earth, leaving from one to four and six rods space between, 
has excited much inquiry, as to the reason and purposes of their 
construction. But may not this grand characteristic of the people 
of the west, in road building, be illustrated by comparing a prac- 
tice of the Mexicans with this fact- We will show the practice, 
and then draw the conclusion- 

" The Mexicans believed, according to a very ancient tradition^ 
that the end of the world would ta&e place at the termination of 
every cycle of fifty-two years ; that the sun would no more appear 
on the horizon, and that mankind would be devoured by evil 
genii of hideous appearance, known under the name of Tzitzim- 
imes. 

On the last day of this great cycle of time, of fifty-two years, 
the sacred fires were extinguished in all their temples, and dwel- 
lings, and every where, all the people devoting themselves to pray- 
er, no person daring to light a fire at the approach of the night; 
the vessels of clay were broken, garments torn, and whatever was 
most precious was destroyed, because every thing appeared useless 
at the tremendous moment of the last day. 

Amidst this frantic superstition, pregnant women became the ob- 
jects of peculiar horror to the men ; they caused their faces to be 
hidden with masks made with paper of the agave ; they were even 

25 



194 - AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

imprisoned in the store houses of maize or corn, from a persuasion, 
that if the catastrophe took place, the women transformed into 
tigers, would make common cause with the evil genii, and avenge 
themselves of the injustice of the men. 

As soon as it was dark, the grand procession, called the festival 
of the new fire, commenced. The priests took the dresses of the 
gods, and followed by an immense crowd of people, went in solemn 
train to the mountain of Huzachthcatl, which was two leagues or 
six miles from Mexico. This lugubrious march was called the 
march of the gods ; which was supposed to be their final departure 
from their city, and possibly never to return ; in which event, the 
end of the world was come. 

When the procession had reached the summit of the mountain, 
it waited till the moment when the Pleiades, or the seven stars, as- 
cended the middle of the sky, to begin the horrible sacrifice of a 
human victim, stretched on the stone of sacrifice, having a wooden 
disk on the breast, which the priest inflames by friction. The 
corpse, after having received a wound in the breast, which extin- 
guished life, while he lay, or was held on the fatal stone, was laid 
on the ground ; and the instrument made use of to produce fire by 
friction, was placed on the wound, which had been made with a 
knife of obsidian stone. When the bits of wood, by the rapid 
motion of the cylinder, or machine made use of for that purpose, 
had taken fire, an enormous pile, previously prepared to receive 
the body of the unfortunate victim, was kindled, the flames of 
which, ascending high into the air, were seen at a great distance ; 
when the vast populace of the city of Mexico, and surrounding 
country, filled the air with joyful shouts and acclamations. 

All such as were not able to join in the procession, were stationed 
on the terraces of houses, and on the tops of teocallis, or mounds, 
and tumulis, with their eyes fixed on the spot where the flame was 
to appear : which, as soon as it was perceived, was a token of the 
benevolence of the gods, and of the preservation of mankind du- 
ring another cycle of fifty-two years. 

Messengers posted at proper distances from each other, holding 
branches of wood, of a very resinous pine, carried the new fire 
from village to village to the distance of many leagues ; and depo- 
sited it anew in every temple, from whence it was distributed to 
all private dwellings. When the sun appeared on the horizon, the 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 195 

shouting was redoubled, the procession went back from the moun- 
tain to the city, and they thought they could see their gods also re- 
turning to their sanctuaries. 

The women were then released from their prisons, every one 
put on a new dress, the temples were whitewashed, their household 
furniture renewed, their plate, and whatever was necessary for do- 
mestic use. " This secular festival, this apprehension of the sun 
being extinguished at the epoch of the winter solstice, seems to 
present a new instance of analogy between the Mexicans and the 
inhabitants of Egypt. When the Egyptians saw the sun descend 
from the Crab towards Capricorn, and the days gradually grow 
shorter, they were accustomed to sorrow, from the apprehension 
that the sun was going to abandon the earth, but when the orb be- 
gan to return, and the duration of the days grew longer, they robed 
themselves in white garments, and crowned themselves with flow- 
ers."— Humboldt, p. 380, 384. 

This Mexican usage may have been practised by the people of 
the west, as the roads would seem to justify, leading as they do, 
either to some mountain prepared by art, or at some mound : and 
as these processions took place in the night, so that the Pleiades 7 
or seven stars, might be seen, it was necessary that the roads should 
be walled as a defence against an enemy, who might take ad- 
vantage under cover of the night. 

After having examined these accounts of the ancient works of 
the west, it is natural to ask, who their authors were : this can be 
answered only by comparison and conjecture, more or less upheld, 
as circumstances, features, manners, and customs of the nations, 
many resemble each other. 

" If we look into the Bible, we shall there learn, that mankind, 
soon after the deluge, undertook to raise a tower, high as heaven, 
designed to keep them together. But in this attempt they were 
disappointed, and themselves dispersed throughout the world. Did 
they forget to raise afterwards similar monuments and places of 
worship ? They did not, and to use the words of an inspired wri- 
ter, " high places," of various altitudes and dimensions, were raised 
on every high hill throughout the land of Palestine, and all the east, 
among the pagan nations. Some of these " high places " belonged 
to single families ; some to mighty chieftains, a petty tribe, a city, 
or a whole nation. At those " high places," belonging to great 



196 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

nations, great national affairs were transacted. Here they crowned 
and deposed their kings ; here they concluded peace, and declared 
war, and worshipped their gods. 

The Jews, on many great occasions, assembled at Gilgal ; which 
word signifies " an heap.'''' Shiloh, where the Jews frequently as- 
sembled to transact great national affairs, and perform acts of devo- 
tion, was on the top of a high hill. When this was forsaken, the 
loftier hill of Zion was selected in its stead ; upon Sinai's awful 
summit the law of God was promulgated. Solomon's temple was 
situated upon a high hill, by Divine appointment. Samaria, a place 
celebrated for the worship of idols, was built upon the high hill of 
Shemer, by Omri, one of the kings of Israel, who was buried there. 
How many hundreds of mounds in this country are situated on the 
highest hills, surrounded by the most fertile soils. 

" Traverse the counties of Licking, Franklin, Pickaway, and 
Ross ; examine the loftiest mounds, and compare them with those 
described in Palestine, and a conviction will remain, that as in the 
earliest ages, men preferred the summit of the highest mountains, 
as a love of the same, as a memorial of ancestry, would influence 
posterity to the like custom. 

But the most extraordinary mound we' have heard of, is men- 
tioned in Mr. Schoolcraft's Travels in the west. It is called Mount 
Joliet, and is situated on the river Des Plains, one of the head wa- 
ter rivers of the Illinois. Its situation is such as to give its size 
its fullest effect, being on a level country with no hill in sight to 
form a contrast. Its height is sixty feet, nearly four rods perpen- 
dicular, its length eighty-four rods, its width fourteen, and is one 
hundred and ninety -six rods in circumference on its top, but con- 
siderably larger, measuring round the base. It has been remarked 
by Dr. Beck, that this is probably the largest mound within the 
limits of the United States. 

This mound is built on the horizontal lime stone stratum of the 
secondary formation, and is fronted by the beautiful lake Joliet, 
which is but fifteen miles long, furnishing the most " noble and 
picturesque spot in all America." Schoolcraft. This mound con- 
sists of eighteen million two hundred and fifty thousand solid feet 
of earth. How long it must have been in being builded, is more 
than can be made out, as the number of men employed, and the 
facilities to carry on the work, are unknown. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 197 

In England, Scotland, and in Wales, they are thus situated. At 
Inch-Tuthel, on the river Tay, there is a mound which resembles 
ours on the Licking, near Newark. The camp at Comerie is on a 
water of Ruchel, situated on a high alluvion, like ours in the west. 
The antiquities of Ardoch are on a water Kneck, their walls ditch* 
es, gateways, mounds of defence before them, and every thing 
about them, resemble our works of this character in America. 

What Pennant, in his Antiquarian Researches in the north of 
Europe, calls a pi&toriurn, is exactly like the circular works round 
aur mounds, when placed within walls of earth- Catter-thun, two 
miles from Angus, is ascribed to the ancient Caledonians, or Scotch. 
Such works are very common in Ohio. One on the river Loden, 
or Lowthe, and another near the river Emet, are exactly like those 
in the west. The strong resemblance between the works in Scot- 
land and those of the west, I think, says Mr. Atwater, no man will 
deny. In various parts of the British isles, as well as England, 
Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, are abundance of those works, which 
were places of worship, burial, and defence, built by the ancient 
Picts, so called by the Romans, because they painted themselves, 
like the aborigines of this country. 

At a very early period of the globe, a small mound of earth 
served as a sepulchre and an altar, whereon the officiating priest 
could be seen by the surrounding worshippers. Such sacred works 
may be traced from Whales to Russia, quite across that empire 
north, to our continent ; and then across this continent, from the 
Columbia on the Pacific Ocean, to the Black River, on the east end 
of Lake Ontario ; thence turning in a southwestern direction, we 
find them extending quite to the southern parts of Mexico and 
Peru. 

" If there exists," says Dr. Clarke, " any thing of former times 
which may afford evidence of antediluvian manners, it is this mode 
of burial ; which seems to mark the progress of population in the 
first ages after the dispersion, occasioned by the confusion of lan- 
guages, at Babel. 

Whether under the form of a mound in Scandinavia and Russia, 
a barrow in England, or cairn in Ireland, Scotland and Wales, or 
heaps of earth, which the modern Greeks and Turks call Tepee, 
and the Mexicans, Tepee, and lastly, in the more artificial shape 
of a pyramid in Egypt ; they had universally the same origin." 



198 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Here we have the unequivocal opinion of a man, who has scaree^ 
ly his fellow in the present generation, respecting a knowledge of 
the ancient manners of mankind ; who says, that the tumnli, found 
in all parts of the earth, belong solely to the age immediately suc- 
ceeding Noah's flood ; which greatly favors our opinion, that this 
country was settled as early as the other parts of the earth which 
are atas great a distance from Mount Ararat. 

But what is the distance from Mount Ararat, by w r ay of Bhering's 
Strait, to the middle of the United States, which is the region of 
the Missouri ? It is something over ten thousand miles ; nearly 
half the circuit of the globe. Here, in the region of the Western 
States, we have, by the' aid of Baron Humboldt, supposed the 
country of Aztalan was situated ; where the great specimens of 
labor and ancient manners, are must abundant. If this was the 
way the first people came into America, it is very clear, they could 
not, in the ordinary way of making a settlement here, and a 
settlement there, have arrived soon enough, to show signs of as 
great antiquity, in their works in America, as those of the same 
sort, found in the north of Europe. Some other way, therefore, we 
are confident, the first inhabitants must have pursued, so that their 
works in America, might compare, in character and antiquity, with 
those of other nations. From Ararat, in a westerly course, passing 
through Europe, by way of the countries now situated in Russia 
in Europe, to the Atlantic, the distance is scarcely five thousand 
miles ; not half the distance the route of Bhering's Strait would 
have been. And if the Egyptian tradition be true, respecting the 
island Atalantis, and the conjectures of naturalists about a union of 
Europe and America on the north, there was nothing to hinder 
their settling here, immediately after their dispersion. 

It is supposed the first generations immediately succeeding the 
flood, were much more enlightened than many nations since that 
period ; the reason is, they had not yet forgotten that which they 
had learned of the manners of their antediluvian ancestry from 
Noah ; but as they spread and diverged asunder, what they had 
learned from him concerning the creation, architecture, and the- 
culture of the earth before the flood, they lost, and so retrograded 
to savagism. 

It is true, the family of Shem, of whom were Abraham, Isaac, 
and Jacob, by the particular providence of God, retained^ unadul- 



ATSV DISCOVERIES IK THE WEST. 199 

terated, the traditional history of the creation, and of man, till the 
time Moses embodied it in a book, eight hundred and fifty-seven 
years after the flood. But the rest of the nations were left, in this 
respect, to mere recollections, which, as soon as they divided and 
subdivided, become contradictory and monstrous. 

But the authors of the great works found in the west, seem to 
have retained the first ideas received from their fathers at the era 
of the building of Babel, equally, if not superior, to many nations 
of Europe, as they were in the year eight hundred after Christ. 
This is consented to on all hands, and even contended for by the 
historian, Humboldt. In order to show the reader the propritey of 
believing, that a colony, very soon after the confusion of the lan- 
guage of mankind, found their way to what is now called America, 
we give the tradition of the Azteca nation, who once inhabited 
Aztalan, the country of the western states, but were, at the era of 
the conquest of South America, found inhabiting the vale of Mex- 
ico, because they had, as we have shown, been driven away by the 
irruptions of the Tartarian Indians, as follows : 



TRAITS OF THE MOSAIC HISTORY FOUND AMONG THE K.Z 
TECA NATIONS. 

The tradition commences with an account of the deluge, as they 
had preserved it in books made of the buffalo and deer skin, on 
which account there is more certainty than if it had been preserved 
by mere oral tradition, handed down from father to son. 

They begin by painting, or as we would say, by telling us that 
Noah, whom they call Tezpi, saved himself, with his wife, whom 
they call Xochiquetzal, on a raft or canoe. Is not this the ark? 
The raft or canoe rested on or at the foot of a mountain, which 
they call Colhuacan. Is not this Ararat ? The men born after this 
deluge were born dumb. Is not this the confusion of language at 
Babel ? A dove from the top of a tree distributes languages to them 
in the form of an olive leaf. Is not this the dove of Noah, which 
returned with that leaf in her mouth, as related in Genesis I They 



200 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

say. that en this rafi, beside Tezpi and bis wife, were several chil- 
dren, and animals, with grain, the preservation of which was of 
importance to mankind. Is not this in almost exact accordance with 
what was saved in the ark with Noah, as stated in Genesis. 

When the great spirit, Tezcatlipoca, ordered the waters to with- 
draw, Tezpi sent out from his raft a vulture, which never returned, 
on account of the great quantities of dead carcasses which it found 
to feed upon. Is not this the raven of Noah, which did not return 
when it was sent out the second time, for the very reason here as- 
signed by the Mexicans ? Tezpi sent other birds, one of which 
was the humming bird ; this bird alone returned, holding in its 
beak a branch covered with leaves. Is not this the dove ? Tezpi 
seeing that fresh verdure now clothed the earth, quitted his raft 
near the mountain Colhuacan. Is not this an allusion to Ararat of 
Asia ? They say the tongues which the dove gave to mankind, ■ 
were infinitely varied ; which, when received, they immediately 
dispersed. But among them there were fifteen heads or chiefs of 
families, which were permitted to speak the same language, and 
these were the Taltecks, the Aculhucans, and Azteca nations, who 
embodied themselves together,, which was very natural, and travel- 
ed, they knew not where, but at length arrived in the country of 
Aztalan, or the lake country. 

The plate or engraving presented here, is a surprising represent- 
ation of the Deluge of Noah, and of the Confusion of the Ancient 
Language, at the building of the Tower of Babel, as related in the 
Book of Genesis, see chap. 7 and 11. 

We have derived the subject of this plate from Baron Hum- 
boldt's volume of Researches in Mexico, who found it painted on 
a manuscript book, made of the leaves of some kind of tree, suit- 
able for the purpose, after the manner of the ancient nations of the 
sultry parts of Asia, around the Mediterranean. 

Among the vast multitude of painted representations found by 
this author, on the books of the natives, made also frequently of 
prepared skins of animals, were delineated all the leading circum- 
stances and history of the deluge, of the fall of man, and of the 
seduction of the woman by the means of the serpent, the first 
murder as perpetrated by Cain, on the person of his brother Abel. 

The plate, however, here presented, shows no more than a pic= 
ture of the flood, with Noah afloat on a raft, or as the traditions of 



AND DISCOVERIES. IN THE WEST. 201 

some of the nations say, on a tree, a canoe, and some say even in a 
vessel of huge dimensions. It also shows, by the group of men 
approaching the bird, a somewhat obscure history of the confusion 
of the ancient language, at the building of Babel, by representing 
them as being born dumb, who receive the gift of speech from a 
dove, which flutters in the branches of the tree, while she presents 
the languages to the mute throng, by bestowing upon each indivi- 
dual a leaf of the tree, which is shown in the form of small com- 
mas suspended from its beak. 

The circumstance of their being born dumb, points out as clearly 
as tradition can be expected to do, the confusion of language ; as 
being dumb is equivalent to their not being able to converse with 
each other ; or their not being able to converse, was equivalent to 
their being born dumb. 

Among the different nations^ according to Humboldt, who inha- 
bited Mexico, were found paintings which represented the deluge, 
or the flood of Tezpi. The same person among the Chinese is 
called Fohi and Yu-ti y which is strikingly similar in sound to the 
Mexican Tezpi, in which they show how he saved himself and 
his wife, in a bark, or some say, in a canoe, others, on a raft, which 
they call, in their language, a huahuate. 

The painting, of which the plate is the representation, shows 
Tezpi, or Noah, in the midst of the waters, lying on his back. 
The mountain, the summit of which is crowned by a tree, and rises 
above the waters, is the peak of Colhucan, the Ararat of the Mex- 
icans. The horn which is represented on the hieroglyphic, is the 
mountain Colhucan. At the foot of the mountain, on each side, 
appear the heads of Noah and his wife. The woman is known by 
the two points extending up from her forehead, which is the uni- 
versal designation of the female sex among the Mexicans. 

In the figure of the bird, with the leaves of a tree in its beak, is 
shown the circumstance of the dove's return to the Ark, when it 
had been sent out the second time, bringing a branch of the olive 
in its mouth ; but in their tradition it had become misplaced, and 
is made the author of the languages. That birds have a language, 
was believed by the nations of the old world. Some of those na- 
tions retain a surprising traditional account of the deluge ; who say, 
that Noah embarked in a spacious acalli or boat, with his wife, his 
children, several animals, and grain, the preservation of which was 

26 



202 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

of great importance to mankind. When the Great Spirit, Tezcat- 
lipoca 3 ordered the waters to withdraw, Tezpi, or Noah, sent out 
from his boat a vulture. But as the bird's natural food was that of 
dead carcasses, it did not return, on account of the great number 
of those carcasses with which the earth, now dried in some places, 
abounded. 

Tezpi sent out other birds, one of which was the humming bird ; 
this bird alone returned again to the boat, holding in its beak a 
branch, covered with leaves. Tezpi now knowiDg that the earth 
was dry, being clothed with fresh verdure, quitted bis bark near 
the mountain Colhucan, which is equivalent to that of Ararat. 

The purity of this tradition is evidence of two things : 1st., that 
the book of Genesis^ as written by Moses, is not as some have 
imagined, a cunningly devised fable, as these Indians cannot be ac- 
cused of Christian priestcraft, nor yet of Jewish priestcraft, their 
religion being solely of another cast, wholly idolatrous. And se- 
cond, that the continents of America, Africa, and Asia, were an- 
ciently united, so that the earlier nations came directly over after 
the confusion of the ancient language and dispersion— on which ac- 
count its purity has been preserved more than among the more 
wandering tribes of the old continents 

As favoring this idea of their coming immediately from the re- 
gion of the tower of Babel, their tradition goes on to inform us, that 
the tongues distributed by this bird were infinitely various, and 
dispersed over the earth ; but that it so happened that fifteen heads 
of families were permitted to speak the same language, these are 
the same shown on the plate. These travelled till they came to a 
country which they called Aztalan, supposed to be in the regions 
of the now United States, according to Humboldt. As favoring 
this idea, we notice, the word Aztalan signifies in their language, 
water 9 or a country of much water. Now, no country on the earth 
better suits this appellation than the western country, on account of 
the vast number of lakes found there. 

There is another particular in this group of naked, dumb hu- 
man beings, worthy of notice, which is, that neither their counte- 
nances nor form of their persons agree at all with the countenances 
or formation of the common Indians ; they suit far better to the 
face of the ancient Britons, Greeks, Romans, Carthagenians and 
Phoenicians- 



A1STD DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 203 

If so, it is evident, that the Indians are not the first people who 
found their way to this country. Among these ancient nations are 
found many more traditions corresponding to the accounts given by 
Moses, respecting the creation, the fall of man by the means of a 
serpent — the murder of Abel by his brother, &c. ; all of which 
are denoted in their paintings, as found by the earlier travellers 
among them, since the discovery of America by Columbus, and 
carefully copied from their books of prepared hides, which may be 
called parchment, after the manner of the ancients of the earliest 
ages. 

We are pleased when we find such evidence, as it goes to the 
establishment of the truth of the historical parts of the Old Testa- 
ment, evidence so far removed from the sceptic's charge of priest- 
craft here among the unsophiscated nations of the earlier people of 
America. 

Clavigero, in his history of Mexico, says, that among the Chiap- 
anese Indians, was found an ancient manuscript in the language of 
that country, made by the Indians themselves, in which it was said, 
according to their ancient tradition, that a certain person, named 
Votan, was present at that great building, which was made by or- 
der of his uncle, in order to mount up to heaven ; that then every 
people was given its language, and that Votan himself was charged 
by God to make the division of the lands of Anahuac— -so Noah 
divided the earth among his sons. Votan may have been Noah. 

Of the ancient Indians of Cuba, several historians of America 
relate, that when they were interrogated by the Spaniards concern- 
ing their origin, they answered, they had heard from their ances- 
tors, that God created the heavens and the earth, and all things : 
that an old man having foreseen the deluge with which God de- 
signed to chastise the sins of men, built a large canoe and embark- 
ed in it with his family, and many animals ; that when the inun- 
dation ceased, he sent out a raven, which, because it found food 
suited to its nature to feed on, never returned to the canoe ; that 
he then sent out a pigeon, which soon returned, bearing a branch 
of the Hoba tree, a certain fruit tree of America, in its mouth ; that 
when the old man saw the earth dry, he disembarked, and having 
made himself wine of the wood grape, he became intoxicated and 
fell asleep ; that then one of his sons made ridicule of his naked- 
ness, and that another son piously covered him ; that, upon waking, 



204 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

he blessed the latter and cursed the former. Lastly, these island- 
ers held that they had their origin from the accursed son, and there- 
fore went almost naked ; that the Spaniards, as they were clothed ? 
descended perhaps from the other. 

Many of the nations of America, says Clavigero, have the same 
tradition, agreeing nearly to what we hare already related. It was 
the opinion of this author, that the nations who peopled the Mex- 
ican empire, belonged to the posterity of Naphtuhim — (the same s 
we imagine, with Japheth ;) and that their ancestors having left 
Egypt not long after the confusion of the ancient language, travel- 
led towards America, crossing over on the isthmus, which it is sup- 
posed once united America with the African continent, but since 
has been beaten down by the operation of the waters of the Atlantic 
on the north, and the Southern ocean on the south, or by the ope- 
ration of earthquakes. 

Now we consider the comparative perfection of the preservation 
of this Bible account, as an evidence that the people among whom 
it was found must have settled in this country at a very early pe- 
riod of time after the flood, and that they did not wander any more, 
but peopled the continent, cultivating it, building towns and cities, 
after their manner ; the vestiges of which are so abundant to this 
day; and on this account, viz., their fixedness, their traditionary 
history was not as liable to become lost, as it would have undoubt- 
edly been, had they wandered, as many other nations of the old 
world have, among whom scarcely a vestige of their origin is found, 
of credible tradition, compared with this. 

Even the Hindoo nations, who, in their origin, wandered also 
from Ararat, have not, with all their boasted refinement and anti- 
quity of origin, as clear an account of the first age of the earth, as 
these Mexicans. But there is another additional reason for it : 
those countries of the east have been frequently overrun by savage 
hordes from the wilds of northern Tartary ; while the ancient peo- 
ple of this continent have rested in peace, till similar hordes found 
their way across Bhering's Strait, in later years ; and, as is be- 
lieved, an account of the tradition, both of some of the western 
tribes, and of the Azteca nations in Mexico, were driven from their 
ancient possessions. 

If then we believe, that the first people who visited this country 
did not come here by the way of Bhering's Strait, from Tartary, 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- 205' 

$iow then is it that we find such evident marks, in the mounds and 
tumuli of the west, of the presence of a Hindoo population, as well 
as of other nations. 

Let the tradition of the nations of Taltec and Azteca extraction 
in Mexico answer it. These say, that a wonderful personagey 
whom they name Quetzalcoatl, appeared among them, who was a 
white and bearded man. This person assumed the dignity of act- 
ing as a priest and legislator, and became the chief of a religious 
6ect, which like the Songasis and the Boudhists of Indostan, in- 
flicted on themselves the most cruel penances. He introduced the- 
custom of piercing the lips and ears, and lacerating the rest of the 
body, with the prickles of the agave and leaves, the throns of the 
cactus., and of putting reeds into the wounds, in order that the blood; 
might be seen to trickle more copiously. In all this, says Hum- 
boldt, we seem to behold one of those Rishi, hermits of the GangeSj, 
whose pious austerity is celebrated in the books of the Hindoos. 

Jewitt, a native of Boston, who lately died at Hartford Conn., 
was, some few years since, captured with the crew of the vessel 
in which he had sailed, by the Nootka Indians, at Nootka Sound, 
on the Pacific. In his narrative of his captivity and sufferings, he 
states, that those Indians had a religious custom, very similar to 
those of the Hindoos, now in use, about the temple of Jugernaut s 
in India; which was, piercing their sides with long rods, and leap- 
ing about while the rods were in the wound. 

Respecting this white and bearded man, much is said in their 
tradition, recorded in their books of skin, and among other things, 
that after a long stay with them, he suddenly left them, promising, 
to return again, in a short time, to govern them and renew their 
happiness. This person, named Tecpaltzin, resembles, very 
strongly, in his promise to return again, the behavior of Lycurgus, 
the Spartan lawgiver, who, on his departure from Lacedemon, 
bound all the citizens under an oath, both for themselves and pos- 
terity, that they would neither violate nor abolish his laws till his 
return ; and soon after, in the Isle of Crete, put himself to death, so 
that his return became impossible. 

It was the posterity of this man, whom the unhappy Montazuma 
thought he recognized in the soldiers of Cortez, the Spanish con- 
queror of Mexico. " We know," said the unhappy monarch, in 
his first interview with the Spanish general, " by our books, thai 



206 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

myself and those who inhabit this country, are not natives but 
strangers, who came from a great distance. We know, also, that 
the chief who led our ancestors hither," that is to Aztalan, " re- 
turned, for a certain time, to his primitive country, and thence 
came back to seek those who were here established;," who, after a 
while, returned again, alone. We always believed that his de- 
scendants would one day come to take possession of this country. 
Since you arrive from that region where the sun rises, I cannot 
doubt, but that the king who sends you, is our natural master." 

This chief who led the Azteck tribes first to Aztalan, is called 
Tecpaltzin, and seems to be the person who, the monarch says, re- 
turned to his native land, where the sun rises ; which is a strong 
allusion to the country of Babylon, or some part of the old world, 
about the Mediteranean, which is east from Mexico, where the 
sun rises, the very country where the chiefs of the fifteen tribes, 
speaking the same language with himself, first received that lan- 
guage from the bird, as before stated. 

But Quetzalcoatl, an entire different character, appears among 
them many ages after their settlement at Mexico, as a religious 
teacher, who, Humboldt says, resembled the Boudhists or Bram= 
nuns of Indostan, and the hermits of the Ganges, whose pious aus= 
terities are celebrated in their Pain anas, or books of theology, and 
that the Azteca tribes left their country, Aztalan, in the year of 
our Lord 544 ; and wandered to the south or southwest, coming at 
last to the vale of Mexico. It would appear, from this view, that 
as the nations of Aztalan, with their fellow nations, left vast works, 
and a vast extent of country, apparently in a state of cultivation, 
with cities and villages, more in number than three thousand, as 
Breckenridge supposed, that they must, therefore, have settled here 
long before the Christian era. 

The peculiar doctrines of the Hindoos, we are informed, were 
commenced to be taught in the east, among, what is now called the 
Hindoo nations, by Zoroaster, about the the time of Abraham, 1449 
years before the time of Confucius, who was born 551 years before 
Christ; so that there was time for those doctrines of Confucius and 
Zoroaster to take root in China, and to become popular, and also 
to reach America, by Hindoo missionaries, and overspread these 
regions even as early as the commencement of the Christian era. 

Of Zoroaster, it is said, that he predicted the coming of the Mes- 



AJSd DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST 207 

siah, in plain words ; and that the " wise men " of the east, who 
saw his star, were of his disciples, or sect. This doctrine he must 
have learned of Shera, who, we have attempted to show, was Mel- 
chisedek, or of Abraham, as it had been handed down from Adam, 
the first of men. But the peculiar doctrine of Confucius, wLich 
was the worship of fire, as well as that of the sun, by Zoroaster, it 
is likely, was derived from the account he found among the ar- 
chives of the Jews, respecting the liming bush of Moses, which 
had taken place more than a thousand years before the time of 
Confucius- From this originated, in all probability, as taught by 
Confucius, the burning of heroes, when dead, among many na- 
tions ; and from this, that of immolating widows, as among the 
Hindoos, on the funeral pile, taught by the Bramhun missionaries, 
who, undoubtedly, visited America, as it joins on to Asia north, or 
as it was then possibly called, Amaquemecan, &c, and planted 
their belief among these nations ; the tokens of which appear so 
abundantly in the mounds and tumuli of the west- 

And this Quetzalcotl, a celebrated minister of those opinions, ap= 
pears to have been the first who announced the religion of the east 
among the people of the west There was also one other minister., 
or Bramhun, who appeared among the Mozca tribes in South Ame- 
rica, whom they name Bochica- This personage taught the wor- 
ship of the Sun; and if we were to judge, should pronounce him 
a missionary of the Confucian system, a worshipper of fire, which 
was the religion of the ancient Persians, of whose country Confu- 
cius was a native. This also is evidence that the first inhabitants 
of America came here at a period near the flood, long before that 
worship was known, or they would have had a knowledge of this 
Persian worship, which was introduced by Bochica, among the 
American nations ; which, it seems, they had not, till taught by 
this man. 

Bochica, it appears, became a legislator among those nations, and 
changed the form of their government to a form, the construction 
of which, says Baron Humboldt, bears a strong analogy to the go- 
vernments of Japan and Thibet, on account of the pontiffs holdino- 
in their hands both the secular and the spiritual reins. In Japan 
an island on the east of Asia, or rather many islands, which com- 
pose the Japanese empire, is found a religious sect, stiled Sinto^ 
who do not believe in the sanguinary rites of shedding either hu- 



208 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

man blood, or that of animals, to propitiate their gods. They even 
abstain from animal food, and detest bloodshed, and will not touch 
any dead body. — Morse's Geography, p. 522. 

There is, in South America, a whole nation who eat nothing but 
vegetables, and who hold in abhorrence those who feed on flesh. 
* — Humboldt , page 200. Such a coincidence in the religion of na- 
tions, can scarcely be supposed to exist, unless they are of one ori- 
gin. " I am not ignorant, says Humboldt, p. 199, that the Tch- 
outsks annually crossed Bhering's Straits, to make war on the in- 
habitants of the northwest coast of America." 

Therefore, from what we have related above, ^and a few pages 
tack, it is clear, both from the tradition of the Aztecas,^vho lived 
in the western regions before they went to the south, and from the 
fact that nations on the Asiatic side of Bhering's Straits, having 
come annually over the Straits to fight with the ancient nations of 
the northwest ; that we, in this way, have given conclusive and 
satisfactory reasons, why, in the western mounds and tumuli, are 
found evident tokens of the presence of a Hindoo population, or at 
least, of nations influenced by the superstitions of that people, 
through the means of missionaries of that cast ; and that they did 
not bring those opinions and ceremonies with them when they^rs? 
left Asia, after the confusion of the antediluvian language, as led 
on by their fifteen chiefs ; till by some 'means, and at some period, 
they finally found this country ; not by the way of Bhering's Straits, 
but some nearer course, as we have conjectured in other places in 
this work. 

Perhaps a few words on the supposed native country of Quet- 
zalcotl, may be allowed ; who, as we have stated, is reported to 
have been a white and bearded man, by the Mexican Aztecas. 
There is a vast range of islands on the northeast of Asia, in the Pa- 
cific, situated not very far from Bhering's Straits, in latitude be- 
tween 40 and 50 degrees north. The inhabitants of these islands, 
when first discovered, were found to be far in advance in the arts 
of civilzation, and a knowledge of governments, of their continen- 
tal neighbors — the Chinese and Tartars. The Island of Jesso, in 
particular, which, of itself, is an empire, comparatively, being very 
populous ; and are also highly polished in their manners. 

The inhabitants may be denominated white ; their women espe- 
cially, whom Morse, in his Geography of the islands of Japan, Jesso 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 209 

and others in that range, says expressly, are white, fair and ruddy. 
Humboldt says, they are a bearded race of men, like Europeans. 

It appears, the ancient government of these islands, especially 
that of Japan, which is neighbor to that of Jesso, was in the hands 
of spiritual monarchs and pontiffs, till the 17th century. As this 
was the form of government introduced by Quetzalcotl, when he 
first appeared among the Azteca tribes ; which we suppose was in 
the country of Aztalan, or western states, may it not be conjectured 
that he was a native of some of those islands, who, in his wander- 
ings, had found his way to the place now called Bhering's Straits; 
for, indeed, anciently there may have been only an isthmus at that 
place, and thence to this country, on errands of benevolence ; as it 
is said in the tradition respecting him, that he preached peace among 
men, and would not allow any other offering to the divinity than 
the first fruits of the harvest; which doctrine was in character with 
the mild and amiable manners of the inhabitans of those islands. 

And that peculiar and striking record, found painted on the Mex- 
ican skin-books, which describes him to have been a white and 
bearded man, is our other reason for supposing him to have been a 
native of some of these islands, and most probably Jesso, rather 
than any other country. 

The inhabitants of these islands originated from China, and with 
them undoubtedly carried the Persian doctrines of the worship of 
the Sun and Fire; consequently, we find it taught to the people of 
Aztalan and Mexico, by such as visited them from China, or the 
islands above named ; as it is clear the sun was not the original ob- 
ject of adoration in Mexico, but rather the power which made the 
sun. So Noah worshipped. 



A DESCRIPTION OF THE CEREMONIES OF FIRE WORSHIP, AS 
PRACTISED BY CERTAIN TRIBES ON THE ARKANSAS. > 

Mr. Ash witnessed an exhibition of fire worship, or the worship 
of the sun, as performed by a whole tribe, at the village of Ozark, 
near the mouth of the Ozark, or Arkansas river, which empties 
into the Mississippi, from the west. 

27 



210 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

He says, he arrived at the village at a very fortunate period ; at 
a time when it was filled with Indians and surrounded with their 
camp. They amounted to about nine hundred, and were com- 
posed of the remnants of various nations, and were worshippers of 
the sun. 

The second day after his arrival happened to be the grand festi- 
val among them. He had the most favorable opportunity of wit- 
nessing their adorations, at three remarkable stages; the sun's rise/ 
meridian, and setting. 

The morning was propitious, the air serene, the horizon clear, 
the weather calm. 

The nations divided into classes ; warrior's, young men and wo- 
men, and married men with their children. Each class stood in 
the form of a quadrant ; that each individual might behold the 
rising luminary, and each class held up a particular offering to the 
sun, the instant he rose in his glory. 

The warriors presented their arms, the young men and women 
offered ears of corn and branches of trees, and married women held 
up to his light their infant children. These acts were performed 
in silence, till the object of adoration visibly rose ; when, with 
one impulse, the nations burst into praise, and sung an hymn in 
loud chorus. 

The lines, which were sung with repetitions, and marked by 
pauses, were full of sublimity and judgment. Their meaning, 
when interpreted, is as follows : 

Great Spirit ! master of our lives. 

Great Spirit ! master of things visible, and invisible, and who 
daily makes them visible and invisible. 

Great Spirit! master of every other spirit, good or bad; com- 
mand the good to be favorable to us, and deter the bad from the 
commission of evil. 

Oh Grand Spirit ! preserve the strength and courage of our war- 
riors, and augment their number, that they may resist the oppres- 
sion of the Spanish enemies, and recover the country, and the rights 
of our fathers. 

Oh Grand Spirit ! preserve the lives of such of our old men as 
are inclined to give counsel and example to the young. 

Preserve our children, multiply their number, and let them be 
the comfort and support of declining age. 



And discoveries in the west. 211 

Preserve our corn and our animals, and let w) famine desolate 
the land. 

Protect our villages, guard our lives ! Oh Great Spirit, when you 
hide your light behind the western hills, protect Us from the Span- 
iards, who violate the night, and do evil which they dare not com* 
mit in the presence of your beams. 

Good Spirit ! make known to us your pleasure, by sending to us 
the Spirit of Dreams. Let the Spirit of Dreams proclaim your-will 
in the night, and we will perform it through the day ; and if it say 
the time of some be closed, send them, Master of Life ! to the great 
country of souls, where they may meet their fathers, mothers, chil- 
dren, and wives, and where you are pleased to shine upon them 
with a bright, warm, and perpetual blaze ! 

Oh Grand, Oh Great Spirit ! harken to the voice of natims, 
harken to all thy children, and remember us always, for we are 
descended from thee. 

Immediately after this address, the four quadrants formed one 
immense circle, of several deep, and danced, and sung hymns de- 
scriptive of the power of the sun, till near ten o'clock. They then 
amused and refreshed themselves in the village and camp, but as* 
sembled precisely at the hour of twelve, and formed a number of 
circles, commenced the adoration of the meridian sun. The fol- 
lowing is the literal translation of the mid-day address : 

Courage! nations, courage ! the Great Spirit looks down upon 
tis from his highest seat, and by his lustre appears content with the 
children of his own power and greatness. 

Grand Spirit ! how great are his works, and how beautiful are 
they ! How good is the Great Spirit. He rides high to behold us. 
5 Tis he who causes all things to augment, and to act. He even 
now stands for a moment to harken to us. 

Courage, nations ! courage ! The Great Spirit, now above Our 
heads, will make us vanquish our enemies ; he will cover our fields 
with corn, and increase the animals of our woods. 

He will see that the old be made happy, and that the young 
augment. He will make the nations prosper, make them rejoice, 
and make them put up their voice to him, while he rises and sets 
in their land, and while his heat and light can thus gloriously shine 
out. 

This was followed by dancing and hymns, which continued from 



212 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

two to three hours, at the conclusion of which, dinners were served 
and eaten with great demonstrations of mirth and hilarity. Mr. 
Ash says, he dined in a circle of chiefs, on a barbacued hog, and 
venison very well stewed, and was perfectly pleased with the 
repast. 

The dinner, and repose after it, continued till the sun was on the 
point of getting. On this being announced by several who had 
been on the watch, the nations assembled in haste, and formed 
themselves into segments of circles, in the face of the sun, pre- 
senting their offerings during the time of his descent, and crying 
aloud, " The nations must prosper ; they have been beheld by the 
Great Spirit. What more can they want ? Is not that happiness 
enough ? See, he retires, great and content, after having visited 
his children with light and universal good. 

Oh Grand Spirit ! sleep not long in the gloomy west, but return 
and call your people once again to light and life, to light and life, 
to light and life." 

This was succeeded by dances and songs of praise, till eleven 
o'clock at night ; at which hour they repaired to rest, some retiring 
to the huts that formed their camp, and others to the vicinity of 
fires made in the woods, and along the river's bank. Mr. Ash 
took up his abode with a French settler in the village. He under- 
stood that these Indians have four similar festivals in the year ; one 
for every season. 

When the sun does not shine, or appear on the adoration day, 
an immense fire is erected, around which the ceremonies are per- 
formed with equal devotion and care." 



ORIGIN OF FIRE WORSHIP. 

For many ages the false religions of the east had remained sta- 
tionary ; but in this period, Magianism received considerable 
strength from the writings of Zoroaster. He was a native of Me- 
dia. He pretended to a visit in heaven, where God spake to him 
out of a fire. This fire he pretended to bring with him, on his re- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST, 213 

turn. It was considered holy ; the dwelling of God. The priests 
were forever to keep it, and the people were to worship before it. 
He caused fire temples every where to be erected, that storms and 
tempests might not extinguish it. As he considered God as dwell- 
ing in the fire, he made the sun to be his chhf residence, and 
therefore the primary object of worship. He abandoned the old 
system of two gods, one good and the other evil, and taught the ex- 
istence of one Supreme, who had under him a good and evilangel; 
the immediate authors of good and evil To gain reputation, he 
retired into a cave, and there lived a long time a recluse, and com- 
posed a book called the Zend A vesta, which contains the liturgy 
to be used in the fire temples, and the chief doctrines of his re- 
ligion. His success, in propagating his system, was astonish- 
ingly great- Almost all the eastern world, for a season, bowed be- 
fore him. He is said to have been slain, with eighty of his priests, 
by a Scythian prince, whom he attempted to convert to his reli- 
gion. 

It is manifest, that he derived his whole system of God's dwell- 
ing in the fire, from the burning bush, out of which God spake to 
Moses. He was well acquainted with the Jewish Scriptures. He 
gave the same history of the creation and deluge that Moses had 
given, and inserted a great part of the Psalms of David into his 
writings. The Mehestani, his followers, believed, in the immor- 
tality of the soul, in future rewards and punishments, and in the 
purification of the body by fire, after which they would be united 
to the good.- — Marsh's Ecclesiastical History , p. 78. 

From the same origin, that of the burning bush, it is altogether 
probable, the worship of fire, for many ages, obtained over the 
whole habitable earth ; and is still to be traced in the funeral piles 
of the Hindoos, the beacon fires of the Scotch and Irish, the peri- 
odical midnight fires of the Mexicans, and the council fires ©f the 
North American Indians, around which they dance. 

A custom among the natives of New Mexico, as related by Baron 
Humboldt, is exactly imitated by a practice found still in some parts 
of Ireland, among the descendants cf the ancient Irish. 

At the commencement of the month of November, the great fire 
of Samhuin is lit up, all the culinary fires in the kingdom being 
first extinguished, as it was deemed sacrilege to awaken the win- 
ter's social flame, except by a spark snatched from this sacred fire ; 



214 AMERICAN ANTlQUlflES 

on which account, the month November as called, in the Irish lan- 
guage, Samhuin. 

To this day, the inferior Irish look upon bonfires as sacred j they 
say their prayers, walking round them, the young dream upon 
their ashes, and the old take this fire to light up their domes- 
tic hearths, imagining some secret undefinable excellence connect- 
ed with it. 



A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF WESTERN ANTIQUITIES. 

"I have a brick," says Mr. Atwater, "now before me, over 
which lay, when found, wood, ashes, charcoal, and human bones* 
burnt in a large and hot fire. And from what was found at Circle- 
ville, in the mound already described, it would seem that females 
were sometimes burnt with the males. I need not say, that this 
custom was derived from Asia, as it is well known, that is the only 
country to look to for the origin of such a custom. The Greeks 
and Romans practised burning their illustrous dead ; it was prac- 
tised by the several other nations, but they all derived it from Asia* 

In Dr. Clarke's volume of Travels from St. Petersburgh to the 
Crimea, in the year 1800 ; and in his Travels in Russia, Tartary, 
and Turkey, it is said, conical mounds of earth, or tumuli, occur 
very frequently. The most remarkable may be seen between Ye- 
zolbisky and Voldai, on both sides of the road, and they continue 
over the whole country, from the latter place to Jedrova, and finally, 
over the whole Russian empire. The author of the travels above 
alluded to, says, "There are few finer prospects than that of Wor- 
onetz, viewed a few miles from the town on the road to Pautoosky. 
Throughout the whole of this country, are seen, dispersed over 
immense plains, mounds of earth, covered with fine turf, the sepu!^ 
chres of the ancient world, common to almost every habitable 
country.'" 

This country, (Russia in Europe) from Petersburgh to the Cri- 
mea, a seaport on the Black sea, the region over which Adam 
Clarke travelled, is in the very neighborhood of Mount Ararat \ 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 215 

and from the circumstance of the likeness existing between the 
mounds and tumuli there, which Clarke says are the " tombs of 
the ancient world," and those of the same character, North and 
South America, we draw the conclusion, that they belong, nearly 
to one and the same era of time ; viz : that immediately succeeding 
the confusion of language, at the building of Babel. 

We are told in the same volume of travels, that " the Cossacks 
at Ekaterindara, dug into some of these mounds, for the purpose 
of making cellars, and found in them several ancient vases," earth- 
en vessels, corresponding exactly with vases found in the western 
mounds. Several have been found in our mounds, w T hich resem- 
ble one found in Scotland, described by Pennant. A vessel appa- 
rently made of clay and shells, resembling in its form, a small keg, 
with a spout on one side of it, formed like the spout of a tea-kettle, 
with a chain fastened to each end, made probably of copper, of 
which Mr. Atwater has not informed us. This chain answered as 
a bail or handle ; exactly on its top, or side, under the range of the 
chain handle, is an opening of an exact circle, which is the mouth 
of this ancient tea-kettle. — See plate, letter A. 

In the Russian tumuli are found the bones of various animals, 
as well as those of men. In the western tumuli are found also, 
the bones of men, as well as the teeth of bears, otters, and beavers. 

Thus we learn, from the most authentic sources, that these an- 
cient works existing in Europe, Asia, Africa and America, are simi- 
lar in their construction, in the materials w 7 ith which they were 
raised, and in the articles found in them. 

Let those who are constantly seeking for some argument to over- 
throw the history of man by Moses, consider this fact. Such per- 
sons have affected to believe, that there were different stocks or 
races of men derived from different original fathers ; and in this 
way they account for the appearance of human beings found on 
islands. But this similarity of works, of language, and of tradition, 
relating to the most ancient history of man, indicates, nay more, 
establishes the fact, that all men sprung from but one origin, one 
first man and woman, as Moses has written it in the book of 
Genesis. 

When Dr. Clarke was travelling in Tartary, he found a place 
called Iverness, situated in the turn of a river ; he inquired the 
meaning of the word, and found that Iverness, in their language ? 



216 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

signifies in a turn. Whoever looks into Pennant's Tour, will see 
a plate, representing a town in the turn of a river, in Scotland, 
called by the same name, Iverness. The names of not a few of 
the rivers in England, Scotland, and Wales, are the names also of 
rivers in Tartary. 

Some have supposed that all the great works of the west, of 
which we have been treating, belong to our present race of Indians ; 
but from continued wars with each other, have driven themselves 
from agricultural pursuits, and thinned away their numbers, to that 
degree, that the wild animals and fishes of the rivers, and wild 
fruit of the forests, were found sufficient to give them abundant 
support ; on which account, they were reduced to savagism. 

But this is answered by the Antiquarian Society, as follows : 
" Have our present race of Indians ever buried their dead in 
mounds by thousands ? Were they acquainted with the use of sil- 
ver, or copper ? These metals curiously wrought have been found. 
Did the ancients of our Indians burn the bodies of distinguished 
chiefs, on funeral piles, and then raise a lofty tumulus over the urn 
containing their ashes ? Did the Indians erect any thing like the 
" walled towns," on Paint Creek ? Did they ever dig such wells 
as are found at Marietta, Portsmouth, and above all, such as those 
in Paint Creek ? Did they manufacture vessels from calcareous 
breccia, equal to any now made in Italy ? Did they ever make 
and worship an idol, representing the three principal gods of India, 
called the Triune Cup ?—See plate, letter E. 

To this we respond, they never have : no, not even their tra- 
ditions afford a glimpse of the existence of such things, as forts, 
tumuli, roads, wells, mounds, walls enclosing" between one and 
two hundred, and even five hundred acres of land ; some of them 
of stone, and others of earth, twenty feet in thickness, and exceed- 
ing high, are works requiring too much labor for Indians ever to 
have performed. 

The skeletons found in our mounds never belonged to a people 
like our Indians. The latter are a tall, and rather slender, straight 
limbed people ; but those found in the barrows and tumuli, were 
rarely over five feet high, though a few were six. Their foreheads 
were low, cheek bones rather high, their faces were very short and 
wide, their eyes large, and their chins very broad. 

But Morse, the geographer, says, page 629, the Tartars have 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. %Vt 

small eyes, and not of the oblique form, like the Monguls and Chi- 
nese, neither of which seem to correspond with the large eyed race 
who built the mounds and tumuli of the west ; on which account 
we the more freely look to a higher an more ancient origin for 
these people. The Indians of North America, in features, com- 
plexion, and form, and warlike habits, suit far better the Tartaric 
character, than the skeletons found in the mounds of the west. 
The limbs of our fossils are short and thick, resembling the Ger- 
mans more than any other Europeans with whom we are acquainted. 

There is a tradition among the Germans, that, in ancient times, 
some adventurers of their nations, discovered the region now called 
America, and made settlements in it ; but that, subsequently, they 
became amalgamated with the inhabitants whom they found alrea- 
dy here ; whether of Indian, or of the more ancient race of men 
before them, is not known. 

We have conversed with one German on this subject, who re- 
lates that he was acquainted with a family of Germanic origin, who 
once were in the possession of a Bible, printed about 200 years 
since, in Germany. In this Bible was an account of the discovery 
of America. We have taken considerable trouble to discover this 
Bible in some branch of the family, but have not been able ; but 
have found a part or branch of the family, who knew that such a 
volume was once in the possession of their ancestors ; but where it 
is, or whether it is worn out, they knew not. 

Germany is situated east of England, and parts of it lie along 
the coast of the Atlantic, or North Sea, in north latitude 53 de- 
grees. From whence voyagers may have passed out between the 
north end of Scotland and the south extremity of old Norway by 
the Shetland and Faroe islands, directly in the the course of Ice- 
land, Greenland and the Labrador coast of America. This is as 
possible for the Germans to have performed, as for the Norwegians, 
Danes and Welch, in the year of our Lord 1000, as shown in an- 
other part of this work. White Indians, as found far to the west, 
must have had a white origin. 

An idol found in a tumulus near Nashville, Tennessee, (see 
Plate, letter B.) and now in the Museum of Mr. Clifford, of Lex- 
ington, is made of clay, peculiar for its fineness. With this clay 
was mixed a small portion of gypsum or plaster of Paris. This 
idol was made to represent a man, in a state of nudity or naked- 



218 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

ness, whose arms had been cut off close to the body, and whose 
nose and chin have been mutilated, with a fillet and cake upon its 
head. In all these respects, as well as in the peculiar manner of 
plating the hair, it is exactly such an idol as Professor Pallas found 
in his travels in the southern part of the Russian empire. 

A custom among the ancient Greeks, may have given rise to the 
formation of such an idol ; which was copied by the Asiatic ances- 
tors of the people who brought it with them from Asia to the woods 
of America. This custom was — when a victim was destined to 
be sacrificed, the sacred fillet was bound upon the head of the idol, 
the victim and priest. The salted cake was placed upon the head 
of the victim only ; it was called " Mola," hence immolare, or im- 
molation, in later times was used to signify any kind of sacrifice. 

On this idol, (see the Plate, letter B.,) found near Nashville, the 
sacred fillet and salted cake are represented on its head : it is sup- 
posed the copy of this god was borrowed by the Greeks from the 
Persians from whence it might also have been copied, in later 
times, by the Chinese nations, and from thence have been brought 
to Ame'^a. 

" If the ancestors of our North American Indians, were from the 
northern parts of Tartary, those who worshipped this idol came 
from a country lying farther to the south, where the population was 
more dense, and where the arts had made greater progress ; while 
the Tartar of the north was a hunter and a savage, the Hindoo and 
southern Tartar were well acquainted with most of the useful arts," 
who, at a later period than that of the first people who settled this 
country, came, bringing along with them the arts, the idols, and 
the religious riles of Hindostan, China, and the Crimea." 

The ancestors of our northern Indians were mere hunters ; while 
the authors of our tumuli were shepherds and husbandmen. The 
tempels, altars and sacred places of the Hindoos were always situ- 
ated on the banks of some stream of water. The same observa- 
tion applies to the temples, altars and sacred places of those who 
erected our tumuli. " To the consecrated streams of Hindostan 
devotees assembled from all parts of the empire, to worship their 
gods, and purify themselves by bathing in the sacred waters. In 
this country, their sacred places were uniformly on the banks of 
some river ; and who knows but the Muskingum, the Sciota, the 
Miami, the Ohio, the Cumberland, and the Mississippi, were once 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 219 

deemed as sacred, and their banks as thickly settled, and as well 
cultivated, as are now those of the Ganges, the Indus, and the Ba- 
rempooter." — American Antq. Researches. 

"Some years since a clay vessel was discovered, about twenty 
feet below the surface, in alluvial earth, in digging a well near 
Nashville, Tenaessee, and was found standing on a rock, from 
whence a spring of water issued. This vessel was taken to Peale's 
Museum, at Philadelphia. It contains about one gallon ; was cir- 
cular in its shape, with a flat bottom, from which it rises in a some- 
what globose form, terminating at the summit with the figure of a 
female head ; the place where the water was introduced, or poured 
out, was on the one side of it, nearly at the top of the globose part. 
The features of the face are Asiatic ; the crown of the head is 
covered by a cap of pyramidal figure, with a flattened circular sum- 
mit, ending at the apex, with a round button. The ears are large, 
extending as low as the chin. The features resemble many of 
those engraved for Raffle's history ; and the cap resembles Asiatic 
head dresses." — Am. Ant. Researchs. 

Another idol was, a few years since, dug up in Natchez, on the 
Mississippi, on a piece of ground where, according to tradition, long 
before Europeans visited this country, stood an Indian temple. 
This idol is of stone, and is nineteen inches in height, nine inches 
in width, and seven inches thick at the extremities. On its breast, 
as represented on the plate of the idol, were five marks, which 
were evidently characters of some kind, resembling, as supposed, 
the Persian ; probably expressing, in the language of its authors, 
the name and supposed attributes of the senseless god of stone. 
See the Plate, letter &r. c 

It has been supposed the present race of Indians found their way 
from Asia, by the way of Bhering's Straits, and had passed from 
thence along down the chain of northern lakes, till they finally 
came to the Atlantic, south of Hudson's Bay, in latitude about 50 
degrees north ; long before the people who made the great works 
of the west. That this was the fact, is argued by those who con- 
tend for its belief, from their having greater knowledge of the arts 
diffused among them than the Indians. 

It is, say they, among a dense population, that these improve- 
ments are effected ; it is here that necessity, the mother of inven- 
tion, prompts man to subject such animals to his dominion, as he 



220 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

discovers most docile, and best calculated to assist him in M& 
labors, and to supply him with food and raiment. All this we 
believe ; and for this very reason we hold the authors of our west- 
ern works were thus enlightened, before they came here, on the 
plains of Shinar, amid the density of the population of the region 
immediately round about the tower of Babel. For it is evident, 
they never, would have undertaken to build a work so immense 
as that tower, unless their numbers were considered equal to it \ 
and much less, unless this was the fact, could they have in reality 
effected it. 

While the thousands and tens of thousands, who are employed 
in that w 7 ork, were thus engaged, there must also, for their sup- 
port, have been a large country, densely peopled, under contribu- 
tion. In order to this, agriculture must have been resorted to ; in- 
struments of metal were indispensible, both in clearing the earth 
and in erecting the tower. All this was learned from Noah, who 
had brought, with himself and family, the knowledge of the ante- 
diluvians ; of whom it is said expressly, in the book of Genesis,. 
that they both understood the use of iron and brass, as well as agri- 
culture. Abel w r as a tiller of the ground ; Tubal Cain was a work- 
er in iron and brass. 

It cannot, therefore, be possible that Noah's immediate descend- 
ants, to the third or tenth generations, could have forgotten these 
things. And such as wandered least after the dispersion, after such 
as may have spoken the same language, had found a place to settle 
in, would most certainly retain this antediluvian information more 
than such as wandered, as the Tartars always have done. 

One of the arts known to the builders of Babel, was that of brick 
making ; this art was also known to the people who built the works 
in the west. The knowledge of copper was known to the people 
of the plains of Shinar, for Noah must have communicated it, as 
he lived an hundred and fifty years among them after the flood ; 
also copper, was known to the antediluvians. Copper was also 
known to the authors of the western monuments. Iron was known 
to the antediluvians ; it was also known to the ancients of the 
west ; however, it is evident that very little iron was among them, 
as very few instances of its discovery in their works have occurred ; 
and for this very reason we draw a conclusion that they came to 
this country very soon after the dispersion, and brought with them 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 221 

such few articles of iron as have beed found in their works in an 
oxydized state. 

Copper ore is very abundant, in many places of the west ; and 
therefore, as they had a knowledge of it, when they first came 
here they, knew how to work it, and form it into tools and orna- 
ments. This is the reason why so many articles of this metal are 
found in their works ; and even if they had a knowledge of iron 
ore, and knew how to work it, all articles made of it must have 
become oxydized as appears from what few speimens have been 
found, while those of copper are more imperishable. Gold orna- 
ments are said to have been found in several tumuli. Silver, very 
well plated on copper, has been found in several mounds, besides 
those at Circleville and Marietta. An ornament of copper was 
found in a stone mound near Chilicothe ; it was a bracelet for the 
ancle or wrist. 

The ancients of Asia, immediately after the dispersion, were ac- 
quainted with ornaments made of the various metals ; for in the 
family of Tera.h, who was the father of Abraham and Nahor, we 
find these ornaments in use for the beautifying of females. See 
the servant of Abraham, at the well of Bethuel in the country of 
" Ur of the Chaldeans," or Mesopotamia, which is not very far from 
the place where Babel stood — putting a jewel of gold upon the face 
or forehead of Rebecca, weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets 
for her wrists, or arms. Bracelets for the same use have been found 
in the west ; all of which circumstances go to establish the ac- 
quaintance of those who made those ornaments of silver and cop- 
per found in the mounds of the west, equal with those of Ur in 
Chaldea. The families of Peieg, Reu, Serug, and Nahor, who 
were the immediate progenitors of Abraham, lived at an era but 
little after the flood ; and yet we find them in the possession of 
ornaments of this kind ; from which we conclude a knowledge 
both of the metals, and how to make ornaments, as above describ- 
ed, was brought by Noah and his family from beyond the flood. 

A knowledge, therefore, of these things must have gone with 
the different people who spread themselves over the whole earth, 
and were retained by those who wandered least, as we suppose 
was the fact in relation to the first settlers of this continent, in the 
regions of the west. It is believed by somewhat the common In- 
dian nations came first to this conntry to the northwest, and foi" 



222 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIBI 

lowing the northern lakes, found their way to the Atlantic ; while 
at a later period, they suppose, the more enlightened nations of 
China came the same way, and followed along down the shore of 
the Pacific, till they found a mild climate, along in latitudes fifty, 
forty, and thirty degrees. 

But this is not possible : First, because the Indians were found 
by us as numerous on the shores of the Pacific, as on the shores of 
the Atlantic, and in all the vast country between ; dwelling where 
a people, still more ancient than they, once lived, but had forsaken 
their fields, their houses, their temples, mounds, forts, and tumuli, 
«Bd either were nearly exterminated in wars with them, or wander- 
ed to the south ; the small residue, the descendants of whom are 
found in several of the nations inhabiting South America, as we 
have shown heretofore. 

Second ; it would seem impossible for the people, or nations, 
who built the vast works of the west, and are evidently of the 
shepherd or agricultural cast, to have crossed the Strait, and fought 
their way through hostile, opposing and warlike nations, till they 
had established themselves in their very midst. It is, therefore, 
much more agreeable to reason, and also to the traditions, both of 
the Azteca nations in Mexico and the Wyandot tribes in the west, 
to believe that our Indians came on the continent at a much later 
period than those who are the authors of the works we have de- 
scribed, and that they had many wars with them, till, at length, 
they slowly moved to the south, abandoning forever their country, 
to wander, they knew not whither, as we have also shown. This 
conclusion is not mere fancy, for it' is a matter of historic notice, 
that the " Tchautskis annually crossed Bhering's Straits to make 
war on the inhabitants of the northwest coast of America." — Hum- 
boldt, vol I, p. 199. 

The reader will recollect our description of the walled towns of 
the west, surrounded with deep ditches ; as found on Paint Creek, 
Little Miami, Circleville, Marietta, Cincinnatti, Portsmouth, and 
in Perry county, Ohio. There, is an town, (see Morse's Geogra- 
phy, vol. 2, p. 631,) situated in the regions of Mount Ararat, in 
the ancient country called Independent Tartary, by the name of 
Khiva, which stands on a rising ground, like the town in Perry 
county. It is surrounded with a high wall of earth, very thick, 
and much higher than the houses within. It has three gateways ; 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 223 

there are turrets at small distances, and a broad deep ditch ; the 
town is large, and occupies a considerable space, and commands a 
beautiful prospect of the distant plains, which the industry of the 
inhabitants has rendered very fertile ; but the houses of this town 
are very low, and mostly built of clay, and the roofs flat, and cov- 
ered with earth. This town, which so exactly corresponds with 
the ruins of the west, is in that part of Asia, east of Ararat where the 
primitive inhabitants, immediately after the deluge, made the first 
settlements. And from this coincidence, we are led to a belief, 
drawn from this and abundant other evidence, that the antiquity of 
the one is equal with that of the other ; that its construction is in- 
deed of the primitive form ; which strengthens our opinion, that 
the first inhabitants of America, came here with the very ideas 
relative to the construction and security of towns and fortifications, 
that dictated the building of Khiva, It is allowed on all hands, 
that the people of Asia are wholly of the primitive stamp ; their 
antiquities, therefore, are of the same character with those of 
America. 

" Proofs of primitive times," says Mr. Atwater, " are seen in 
their manners and customs, in their modes of burial and worship, 
and in their wells, which resemble those of the patriarchal ages. 
Here the reader has only to recollect the one at Marietta, those at 
Portsmouth, on Paint Creek, at Cincinnati, and compare them with 
those described in Genesis. Jacob rolled the stone from the well's 
mouth," that is, from the fountain at the bottom. " Rachel de- 
scended with her pitcher, and brought up water for her future hus- 
band, and for the flocks of her father." 

Before men were acquainted with letters, they raised monuments 
of unwrought fragments of rocks, for the purpose of perpetuating 
the memory of events. Such we find raised in America. In the 
patriarchal ages, men were in the habit of burying their dead on 
high mountains and hills, with mounds or tumuli raised over them ; 
such we find in America." Mr. Atwater asks the question, « did 
they not come here as early as the days of Lot and Abraham ?" 
The latter of whom lived, something more than two thousand years 
before Christ, which would be only about three hundred and forty 
years after the flood, and about one hundred and fifty years after 
the confusion of language at Babel. 

If so, they were acquainted more or less with a knowledge of 



%%4 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

the true God, the creation of the world, with the circumstances of 
the building of the ark, the fact of the deluge, the number of per- 
sons saved in the ark, or, as they say, on a raft ; and also, with 
circumstances which transpired after the flood, as mentioned in 
Scripture ; all of which are plainly alluded to in Mexican tra- 
dition. 

But other nations than the progenitors of the Mexicans, have 
also found this country, at other eras, one after another, as accident 
or design may have determined. 

Fortification. — On the shores of the Mississippi, some miles be- 
low Lake Pepin, on a fine plain, exists an artificial elevation of 
about four feet high, extending a full mile, in somewhat of a cir- 
cular form. It is sufficiently capacious to have covered 5000 men. 
Every angle of the breast work is yet traceable, though much de- 
faced by time. Here, it is likely, conflicting realms as great as 
those of the ancient Greeks and Persians, decided the fate of am- 
bitious Monarchs, of the Chinese, Mongol descent. 

Weapons of brass have been found in many parts of America, 
as in the Canadas, Florida, &c, with curiously sculptured stones, 
all of which go to prove that this country was once peopled with 
civilized, industrious nations, — now traversed the greater part by 
savage hunters. 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY THE NORWEGIANS AND WELCH 
BEFORE THE TIME OF COLUMBUS. 

This is contended by Lord Monboddo, a native of Scotland, and 
a philosophical and metaphysical writer of the 17th century. He 
wrote a dissertation on the origin and progress of language, in which 
he is sure he has found among the nations of America, who are of 
the aboriginal class, the ancient Celtic or Gaelic dialect. He goes 
further, and supposes that all the nations of America, from the La- 
brador Esquimaux, to the natives of Florida, are derived of Celtic 
origin : but to this we cannot subscribe, as that many nations of 
the common Indians are evidently of Tartaric or Scythian origin ; 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 325 

the descendants of the race of Shem, and not of Japheth, who was 
a white man. 

Monboddo, however, argues in support of his opinion, from a 
number of curious circumstances. He says that when in France, 
he was acquainted with a French Jesuit, a man of great and cele- 
brated erudition, who related to him that a companion of his, who 
was engaged in the missionary service, with himself, among the 
northern Indians in America, having lost his way in the woods, 
travelled on, he knew not whither, till he found himself among the 
Esquimaux Indians. 

Here he staid long enough to learn their language ; after which 
he returned to Quebec, in Canada ; and happening one day to be 
walking along the docks of that city, observed among the crew of 
a ship that was moored there, a sailor who was a native of the 
country at the foot of the Pyrenian mountain, on the side of France. 

On hearing this man speak, who was a Basque, from his know- 
ledge of the Esquimaux, obtained as above related, he understood 
what he said, so that they conversed together a while. Now, the 
language which the Basques speak, Lord Monboddo informs us, is 
absolutely a dialect of the ancient Celtic, and differs but little from 
the language of the ancient Highlanders of Scotland. 

This opinion is corroborated by a fact, noticed in a Scotch publi- 
cation, respecting an Esquimaux Indian, who acompanied one of 
the English expeditions towards the north pole, with a view to 
reach it, if possible, or to find a passage from the North Atlantic 
through to the North Pacific, by the way of Bhering's Strait ; but 
did not succeed on account of the ice. 

On board of this vessel was a Scotch Highlander, a native of the 
island of Mull, one of the Hebrides ; who, in a few days time, was 
enabled to converse fluently with the Esquimaux ; which would 
seem to be a proof absolute, of the common origin, both of the Es- 
quimaux language, and that of the Basque, which is the ancient 
Scotch or Celtic. 

Also the same author states, that the Celtic language was spoken 
by many of the tribes of Florida, which is situated at the north 
end of the Gulf of Mexico ; and that he was well acquainted with 
a gentleman, from the Highlands of Scotland, who was several 
years in Florida, in a public character, and who stated that many 
of the tribes with whom he had become acquainted, had the great- 

29 



226 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

est affinity with the Celtic in their language ; which appeared par- 
ticularly, both in the form of speech, and manner of reciprocating 
the common salutation, of " how do you do." 

But what is still more remarkable, in their war song he disco- 
vered, not only the sentiments, but several lines, the very same 
words as used in Ossian's celebrated majestic poem of the wars of 
his ancestors, who flourished about thirteen hundred years ago. 
The Indian names of several of the streams, brooks, mountains and 
rocks of Florida, are also the same which are given to similar ob- 
jects, in the highlands of Scotland. 

This celebrated metaphysician was a firm believer in the an- 
ciently reported account of America's having been visited by a co- 
lony from Wales, long previous to the discovery of Columbus ; and 
says the fact is recorded by several Welch historians, which can- 
not be contested. It is reported by travellers in the west, that on 
the Red River, which has its origin north of Spanish Texas, but 
empties into the Mississippi, running through Louisiana ; that on 
this river, very far to the southwest, a tribe of Indians has been 
found, whose manners, in several respects, resemble the Welch, 
especially in their marriage and funeral ceremonies. They call 
themselves the McCedus tribe, which having the Mc or Mack at- 
tached to their name, points evidently to a European origin, of the 
Celtic description. It is further reported by travellers, that north- 
west from the head waters of the Red River, which would be in 
the region called the great American desert, Indians have come 
down to the white settlements, some thirty or forty years since, 
who spoke the Welch language quite intelligibly. These Indians, 
bearing such strong evidence of Welch extraction, may possibly be 
descended from the lost colony from Wales, an account of which 
is given in PowePs History of Wales, in the 12th century ; which 
relates that Prince Madoc, weary of contending with a brother.for 
their father's crown, left his country, and sailed from Wales a due 
west course, which, if they came to land at all must have been 
Newfoundland, which lies opposite the mouth of the river St. 
Lawrence, exactly in latitude 50 degrees north, and which is con- 
tiguous to this continent. But the account relates that he disco- 
vered an unknown country ; that he returned to Wales, and gave 
such a favorable history of his discoveries and of the goodness 
of the land, that many were induced to embark with him on his 



AND DISCOVERIES' IN THE WEST. 227 

Second voyage, which he accomplished. He returned again to 
Wales, but after a while sailed a third time to the newly disco- 
vered country, but has never since been heard of. 

The same account as above, is here again related, but with other 
Circumstances attending. u In the year 1170," 663 years ago, 
which was as before stated, in the 12th century, " Madoc, son of 
Owen Groyriwedk, Prince of Wales, dissatisfied with the situation 
of affairs at home, left his country, as related by the Welch his* 
torian, in quest of some new place to settle. And leaving Ireland 
to the north, proceeded west, till he discovered a fertile country ; 
where leaving a colony, he returned, and persuading many of his 
countrymen to join him, put to sea with ten ships, and was never 
more heard of." 

We are not in the belief that all the tribes of the west, who 
have the name of Indian, are indeed such. There are many tribes 
which have been discovered in the western regions, as on the Red 
River, in the great American desert, west of the head waters of 
that river, and in wilds west of the Rocky Mountains ; who are 
evidently not of the Tartar stock, whose complexion, language, 
and heavy bearded faces, show them to be of other descent. 

The Indians who were living on the river Taunton, in Massa- 
chusetts, when the whites first settled there, had a tradition that 
certain strangers once sailed up Asoonset, or Taunton River, in 
wooden houses, and conquered the red men. This tradition does 
not go to lessen the probability of the expedition of the Welch fleet, 
as above related, but greatly to strengthen it. 

This account of the Welch expedition, has several times drawn 
the attention of the world ; but as no vestige of them has been 
found, it was concluded, perhaps too rashly, to be a fable ; or at 
least, that no remains of the colony exist. Of late years, however, 
western settlers have received frequent accounts of a nation inhabit- 
ing at a great distance up the Missouri, in manners and appearance 
resembling the other Indians, by speaking Welch, and retaining 
some ceremonies of the Christian Worship ; and, at length, says 
imlay, in his work, entitled Imlay's America, this is universally 
believed to be a fact, 

Near the falls of Ohio, six brass ornaments, such as soldiers usu- 
ally wear in front of their belts, was dug up, attached to six skele- 
tons. They were cast metal, and on one of them which was 



228 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

brought to Cincinnati, was represented a mermaid^ playing upon- & 
harp, which was the ancient coat of arms for the principality of 
Wales. The tradition from the oldest Indians, is that it was at the 
falls of the Ohio, that the first white people were cut off by the 
natives. 

It is well authenticated that upwards of thirty years ago, Indians 
came to Kaskaskia, in the territory, now the State of Illinois, who 
spoke the Welch dialect, and were perfectly understood by two 
Welchmen then there, who conversed with them. From informa- 
tion to be relied on, tomb stones, and other monuments of the ex- 
istence of such a people, have been found, with the year engraved, 
corresponding very near to that given above, being in the twelfth 
century. 

But long before this lost colony left Wales, Lord Monboddo says, 
America was visited by some Norwegians, from Greenland, who, it 
was well known, were the discoverers of Greenland, in A. D. 964, 
and on that very account, it might be safely supposed they would 
push their discoveries still farther west. 

Accordingly, his lordship says, the Norwegians having made a 
settlement in Greenland, in the end of the tenth century, some ad- 
venturers from thence about that time, which would be more than 
eight hundred years ago, discovered, or rather visited, North Amer- 
ica ; for this writer supposes the continent to have been known to 
the people of the old w T orld, as early as the time of the seige of 
Troy ; which was about eleven hundred years before Christ ; about 
the time of Solomon, or rather, an hundred years before the time 
of that king, nearly 3000 since. 

This is a point at which the publication of this book aims, viz : 
to establish that this part of the earth was settled as soon after the 
flood as any other country as far from Ararat, and perhaps sooner. 

Lord Monboddo says, these Greenland Norwegian adventurers 
made a settlement about the mouth of the River St. Lawrence - 7 
where having found wild grapes, a German among them named 
the country Vinland, as is related in the history of this discovery. 
Mr. Irving, in his late life of Columbus, says, that as the Norwe- 
gians have never seen the grape vine, did not know what it was, 
but there being a German with them, who was acquainted with 
the grape of his own native country, told them its name, from which 
they named it as above. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 220 

This account is recorded in the Annals of Iceland ; which was 
peopled from Norway, which is in the north of Europe ; and from 
Iceland the colony came that settled in Greenland, from thence \o 
the mouth of the River St. Lawrence, about the year 1000 A. D- 
If such was the fact, there is nothing more natural, than that they 
may have pursued up that river, even to the lakes, and have set- 
tled around them, and on the islands in the St. Lawrence. There 
is an island in that river, called Chimney Island, so named, on 
account of the discovery of ancient cellars and fire places, evi- 
dently more ancient than the first acquaintance of the French 
w T ith that country, which we suppose to have been made by these 
Norwegians. 

This Scottish author, in his admired work on the origin and pro- 
gress of language, as well as in other works of his, relates a vast 
number of curious and interesting circumstances, which relate to 
our subject ; one of the most remarkable, is an account of an In- 
dian mummy, discovered in Florida, wrapped up in a cloth manu- 
factured from the bark of trees, and adorned with hieroglyphical 
characters, precisely the same, with characters engraved on a metal 
plate, found in an ancient burying ground, in one of the Hebride 
islands, north of Scotland. 

This country, (Scotland) boasts of the most ancient line of kings 
that have reigned in Europe,-having settled in Scotland, more than 
three hundred years before the Christian era, in the time of Alex- 
ander the Great. They are of Cimbrick Chersonese origin, who 
are derived probably, from some wandering tribe, descended from 
Japheth, the white son of Noah, whose independence, the Greeks 
nor Romans w r ere never able, in their wide-spread conquests, to 
wrest from them ; this was reserved for the English to accomplish, 
which was done in 1603. 

These islands, therefore, north and west of Scotland, became 
peopled by their descendants at an early day. Their hardiness of 
constitution, perseverance of character, and adventuring disposition, 
favors, in the strongest sense, the accounts as recorded in their na- 
tional documents. And a reason why those documents have not 
come to light sooner, is, because they were penned some hundred 
years before the invention of printing ; and laid up in the cabinet 
of some Norwegian chief, at a time when but few could read at 
all, and the means of information did not exist, to be compared with 



£30 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

the facilities of the present time : therefore, it has been reserved to 
this late era, to unravel, in any degree, the mysteries of antiquity* 

In the work entitled " Irving's Life of Colombus," is an account 
of the discovery of this continent, by those northern islanders, given 
in a more circumstantial and detailed manner. See his Appendix 
to the 3d vol. p. 292, as follows : 

" The most plausible," or credible "account" respecting those 
discoveries," is given by Snoro Sturleson, or Sturloins, in his Saga, 
or Chronicle of king Olaus. According to this writer, one Biron, 
of Iceland, voyaging to Greenland in search of his father, from 
whom he had been separated by a storm, was driven by tempestu- 
ous weather, far to the south-west, until he came in sight of a low 
country, covered with woods, with an island in its vicinity. The 
weather becoming favorable he turned to the north-east without 
landing, and arrived safe at Greenland. His account of the coun- 
try he had seen, it is said, excited the enterprise of Lief, son of 
Eric Rauda, (or red head) the first settler of Greenland. A ves- 
sel was fitted out, and Lief and Biron departed together in quest of 
this unknown land. They found a rocky and sterile island, to 
which they gave the name of Helleland ; also a low, sandy coun- 
try, covered with wood, to which they gave the name of Markland ; 
and two days afterwards, they observed a continuance of the coast, 
with an island to the north of it. This last they described as fer- 
tile, well wooded, producing agreeable fruits, and particularly 
grapes ; a fruit with which they were not acquainted; but on be- 
ing informed by one of their companions, a German, of its qualities 
and name, they called the country from it, Vinland. 

They ascended a river well stored with fish, particularly salmon, 
and came to a Lake from which the river took its origin, where 
they passed the winter. 

It is very probable this river was the St. Lawrence, as it abound- 
ed with Salmon, and was the outlet of a Lake, which, it is likely, 
was Ontario ; there is no other River capable of being navigated, 
very far from its mouth, with a sea vessel, and which comes from a 
Lake, and empties into the sea, on that side of the coast, but the 
St. Lawrence. 

The climate appeared to them mild and pleasant, in comparison, 
being accustomed to the more rigorous seasons of the north ; on the 
shortest day in the winter the sun was but eight hours above the 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 231 

horizon ; hence it has been concluded, that the country was about 
the 49th degree of north latitude, and was either Newfoundland, or, 
some part of the coast of North America, about the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence. It is said in those Chronicles of Sturloins, that the re- 
latives of Lief made several voyages to Vinland ; that they traded 
with the natives for peltry and furs ; and that in 1121, 922 years 
ago, a bishop, named Erie, went from Greenland to Vinland, to 
convert the inhabitants to Christianity. 

A knowledge of Christianity among the savage Briton, Caledo- 
nians and the Welch, was introduced, as is supposed, by St. Paul, 
or some of his disciples, as early as the year of our Lord 63, more 
than seventeen hundred years since. 

" From this time, about 1121, we know nothing of Vinland, says 
Forester, in his book of northern voyages, 3d vol. 2d chap., page 
36, as quoted by Irving. There is every appearance that the tribe, 
which still exists in the interior of Newfoundland, and who are so 
different from the other savages of North America both in their ap- 
pearance and mode of living, and always in a state of warfare with 
the Indians of the northern coast, are descendants of the ancient 
Normans, Scandinavians, or Danes." 

In the chronicles of these northern nations, there is also and ac- 
count of the voyage of four boat crews, in the year 1354, which 
corroborates the foregoing relations. This little squadron of fishing 
boats, u being overtaken by a mighty tempest, were driven about 
the sea for many days, until a boat, containing seven persons, was 
cast upon an island, called Estotiland, about one thousand miles 
from Friesland. They were taken by the inhabitants and carried 
to a fair and populous city, where the king sent for many interpre- 
ters, to converse with them, but none that they could understand, 
until a man was found who likewise had been cast upon that coast 
some time before. They remained several days upon the island, 
which was rich and fruitful. The inhabitants were intelligent and 
acquainted with the mechanical arts of Europe : they cultivated 
grain, made beer, and lived in houses built of stone. 

There were Latin books in the king's library, though the inhabi- 
tants had no knowledge of that language ; and in manuscript, as 
the art of printing was not yet discovered. They had many towns 
and castles, and carried on a trade with Greenland, for pitch, sul- 
phur and peltry. Though much given to navigation, they were 



232 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

ignorant of the use of the compass, and finding the Frieslanders 
acquainted with it, held them in great esteem ; and the king sent 
them, with twelve barks, to visit a country to the south, called 
Drogeo. Drogeo is, most likely, a Norman name; as we find 
JJrogo was a leader of the Normans against the ancient baronies of 
Italy, about the year of our Lord 787. Drogeo is supposed to have 
been the continent of America. This voyage of the fishing squa- 
dron, it appears, was in 1354, more than fifty years after the disco- 
very of the magnetic needle, which was in 1300. 

" They had nearly perished in this storm, but were east away 
upon the coast of Drogeo. They found the people cannibals and 
were on the point of being killed and devoured, (these were our 
Indians,) but were spared on account of their great skill in fishing. 
Drogeo they found to be a country of vast extent, or rather a new 
world; that the inhabitants were naked and barbarous; but that 
far to the southwest there was a more civilized region and tempe- 
rate climate, where the inhabitants had a knowledge of gold and 
silver, lived in cities, erected splendid temples to idols, and sacri- 
ficed human victims to them." This is a true picture of the Mex- 
icans, as found by Cortez, the Spanish conqueror of Mexico. 

" After the fisherman," who relates this account, " had resided 
many years on the continent of Drogeo, during which time he had 
passed from the service of one-chieftian to another, and traversed 
various parts of it, certain boats of Estotiland, (now supposed to be 
Newfoundland,) arrived on the coast of Drogeo. The fisherman 
got on board of them, and acted as interpreter, and followed the 
trade between the main land of Drogeo and the island Estotiland, 
for some time, until he became very rich ; then he fitted out a bark 
of his own, and with the assistance of some of the people of the 
islaud, made his way back across the intervening distance between 
Drogeo and his native country, Friesland, in Germany. 

The account he gave of this country, determined Zichjnni, the 
prince of Friesland, to send an expidition thither ; ana Antonio 
Zeno, a Venitian, was to command it. Just before starting, the 
fisherman, who was to have acted as pilot, died ; but cerj^in mar- 
iners who accompanied him from Estotiland, were taken in his 
place. The expedition sailed under command of Zichmni ; the 
Venitian Zeno merely accompanied it. It was unsuccessful. After 
having discovered an island, called Icaria, where they met with a 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 333 

rough reception from the inhabitants, and were obliged to withdraw, 
the ships were driven by storm to Greenland. 

No record remains of any farther prosecution of the enterprise. 
The countries mentioned in the account written by this Zeno, were 
laid down on a map originally on wood. The island Estotiland, 
has been supposed by M. Malte-Brun, to be Newfoundland ; its 
partially civilized inhabitants, the descendants of the Scandinavian 
colonists of Vinland, and the Latin books in manuscript, found in 
the king's library, to have belonged to the remains of the library 
of the Greenland bishop, who emigrated thither in 1121, 922 years 
ago. 

Drogeo, according to the same conjecture, was Nova Scotia and 
New-England ; the civilized people to the southwest, who sacri- 
ficed human beings in rich temples, he supposes to have been the 
Mexicans, or some ancient nations of Florida or Louisiana. 

A distinguished writer of Copenhagen, it is said, was not long 
since, engaged in the composition of a work on the early voyages 
of discovery to this continent, as undertaken by the inhabitants of 
the north of Europe, more than eight hundred and thirty years ago. 
He has in his hands, genuine ancient documents, the examination 
of which leads to curious and surprising results. They furnish va- 
rious and unquestionable evidence, not only that the coast of North 
America was discovered soon after the discovery of Greenland by 
northern explorers, a part of whom remained there ; and that it 
was again visited in the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries, 
but also that Christianity was introduced among the Indians of 
America. The documents of this writer furnish even a map, cut 
in wood, of the northern coast of America, and also an account cf 
the sea coast south as far down as to the Carolinas, and that a prin- 
cipal station of these adventurers was at the mouth of the river 
St. Lawrence. ' 

He says it was in the year 985, that America was first discover- 
ed by Baiske Her Juefser, but that he did not land ; and that in 
the year 1000, the coast was visited by a man named Lief, a son of 
Eric the Red, who colonised Greenland. — Cabinet of Lit. vol. 3. 

From the discoveries of Baron Humboldt, in South America, it 
would appear that the continent of America has indeed been not 
only visited by the northern nations of Europe, at a very early day, 
but also to have settled on it, and to have became the head of tribes* 

30 



234 AMERICAN A*NTIQUITIE» 

nations and kingdoms, as follows : In the kingdom of Guatimala, 
South America, the descendants of the original inhabitants pre- 
serve traditions which go back to the epoch of a great deluge, after 
which their ancestors, led by a chief called Votan, had come from 
a country lying toward the north. As late as in the sixteenth cen- 
tury, in a village in Guatimala, there were of the natives who 
boasted their descent from the family of Votan, or Vodan. " They 
who have studied the history of Scandinavian (old Norway) na- 
tions, says Humboldt*, in the heroic times, must be struck at find- 
ing in Mexico a name which recalls that of Vodan or Odin, who 
reigned among the Scythians, and whose race, according to the 
very remarkable assertion of Bede, (an ecclesiastical historian of 
the 17th century,) gave kings to a great number of nations." 
This wonderfully corroborates the opinion of America's having been 
settled in several parts by Europeans, at a period more ancient than 
even the history of Europe can boast. 

The Shawanese tribe of Indians, who now live in Ohio, once 
lived on the Suaney river, in West Florida, near the shores of the 
southwest end of the gulf of Mexico ; among these Indians, says 
Mr. Atvvater, there is a tradition that Florida had once been inha- 
bited by white people, who had the use of iron tools. Their oldest 
Indians say, when children, they had often heard it spoken of by 
the old people of the tribe, that anciently stumps of trees, covered 
with earth, were frequently found, which had been cut down by 
edged tools. — Am. Ant. Re. p. £73. Whoever they were, or from 
whatever country they may have originated, the account, as given 
by Morse, the geographer, of the subterranean wall found in North 
Carolina, goes very far to show, they had a knowledge of iron ore; 
and consequently knew how to work it, or they could not have had 
iron tools, as the Shawanese Indians relate. 

Morse's account is as follows : " In Rowan country, North Caro- 
lina, about ten miles southwest from Salsbury, two hundred from 
the sea, and seventy from the mountains which run across the wes- 
tern end of the State, is found a remarkable subterraneous wall. It 
stands on uneven ground, near a small brook. The stones of the 
wall are all of one kind, and contain iron ore. They are of various 
sizes, but generally weighing about four pounds. All are of a long 
figure, commonly seven inches in length, sometimes twelve. The 
ends of the stones form the sides of the wall ; some of these ends 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. ^235 

are square, others nearly of the form of a parallelogram, triangle, 
rhombus or rhomboids : but most of them are irregular. Some 
preserve their dimensions through the whole length, others ter- 
minate like a wedge. The alternate position of great and little 
ends, aids in keeping the work square. The surface of some is 
plain, of some concave, of others convex. The concave stone is 
furnished with one convex, so as to suit each other. Where the 
stones are not firm, or shelly, they are curiously wedged in with 
others. The most irregular are thrown into the middle of the wall. 
Every stone is covered with cement, which, next to the stone, has 
trie appearance of iron rust. Where it is thin, the rust has pene- 
trated through. Sometimes the cement is an inch thick, and where 
wet, has the fine, soft, oily feeling of putty. The thickness of the 
wall is uniformly twenty-two inches, the length discovered is rising 
of eighteen rods, and the height twelve or fourteen feet. Both sides 
of this are plastered with the substance in which the stones are 
laid. The top of the wall appears to run nearly parallel with the 
top of the ground, being generally about a foot below the surface. 
In one place it is several feet. There is a bend or curve of six feet 
or more, after which it proceeds in its former direction. The 
whole appears to be formed in the most skilful manner. Six or 
eight miles from this wall another has been since discovered, forty 
feet long, four and five feet high, seven inches thick only. The 
stones of this wall are all of one length."— Universal Geo. p. 515. 

In the State of Tennessee, which is situated exactly on the west- 
ern end of North Carolina, are also found the " vestiges and re- 
mains of ancient dwellings, towns and fortifications, with mounds, 
barrows, utensils, and images, wherever the soil is of prime quality 
and convenient to water." 

The bodies of two of these people were discovered in the autumn 
of 1810, in Warren county, in the state of Tennessee ; one of a 
man, the other of a child, to appearance about four years old. 
They were four feet below the surface, in a situation perfectly dry ; 
there being a mixture of copperas, alum, sulphur, and nitre, in the 
soil that covered them. Their skin was preserved, though its ori- 
ginal complexion could not be ascertained ; but the hair of their 
heads was of an auburn shade. The child was deposited in a 
basket, well wrought of smooth splits of reeds, (arundo gigauticu,) 
and several singular species of cloth, as well as deer skins, dressed 



236 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

and undressed, were wrapped round and deposited with them, and 
two feather fans, and a curious belt. — Morse. 

From the discovery of those two bodies, we think we 'ascertain 
the inhabitants to have been white, like the Europeans, from the 
color of their hair ; as it is well known the Australasians, Polyne- 
sians and Malays, as well 'as the common Indians, have univer- 
sally black, long and shining hair. The body which is mentioned 
by Professor Mitchell, late of New York, discovered in a nitrous 
cave, in the western country, had red or sandy hair ; such was the 
color of the hair of the Scandinavians of the north of Europe, and 
are supposed, upon authority indubitable, to have settled at Onon- 
daga, and round about that region. See toward the close of this 
work. 

The wall discovered in North Carolina, as related above, is doubt- 
less a part of a wall built for the defence of a town or city ; the 
rest may have been thrown down by an enemy, or it may have been 
never finished. The regular manner in which it was built and 
laid in mortar, shows a considerable knowledge of masonry. This 
is by no means very extraordinary, as in Europe a considerable 
knowledge of the arts was in possession of the people of that coun- 
try, derived from the Romans, who had subdued all the island of 
England, and abandoned the country, some hundred years before 
the time of the Welch expedition to the west of Europe, as we 
shall relate by and by. 

What traits of iron instruments are found scattered over this 
country, except such as have been buried or lost in conflicts and 
battles with the Indians, since the discovery of the country by 
Columbus, is to be attributed to these Scandinavian and Welch 
settlers from the old country ; the latter about the ninth or tenth 
century, and the former long before. 

If the Welch, as we shall show, a few pages hence, found this 
country about the year 950, there was time enough for them to 
have established themselves in many parts, and to have built them- 
selves towns and cultivated the earth to a great extent ; as from 
about 950, till its discovery by Columbus, in 1492, would be not 
far from 542 years ; a longer time than has elapsed since its last 
discovery ; and also time enough for their deserted works to be- 
come covered with forests, of the age of four and five hundred 
years. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 237 

According to Morse, the ancestors of the Welch were the Cim- 
bri, or northern Celts, but he says, the Goths from Asia having 
seized on Germany, and a great part of Gaul or France, gradually 
repelled the Celts, and placed colonies on the island of Britain, 
three or four centuries before the Christian era ; that the Romans 
found many tribes of the Belgae, or ancient Germans, when they 
first invaded that island ; consequently, not only the Welch, but 
the English also had in part the Goths, or ancient Germans, for 
their ancestors, and were the people who as well as the Scandina- 
vians, discovered America, and settled here. From this view, we 
see the propriety in the tradition, which, in another place of this 
volume, we have related, as being printed in a Dutch Bible, more 
than two hundred years ago in Germany, where it is said the Ger- 
mans discovered America, and became amalgamated with the Inr 
dians. It may be, that from such causes as these, are found, far to 
the west several tribes of white Indians, originated from Welch, 
German and Scandinavian ancestors ; who well might be supposed 
to have had not only a knowledge of masonry, sufficient to build 
walls, but of iron also ; the traits of which are found in many parts, 
sufficiently marked, by oxydization, to throw the time of their for- 
mation beyond the last discovery of America. 

On the River Gasconade, which empties into the Missouri, on 
the southern side, are found the traces of ancient works, similar to 
those in North Carolina. In the saltpetre caves of that region, and 
Gasconade county in particular, was discovered, when they were 
first visited, axes and hammers made of iron ; which led to the be- 
lief that they had formerly worked those caves for the sake of the 
nitre. Dr. Beck, from whose Gazetteer of Missouri and Illinois, 
page 234, we have this account, remarks, however, " it is difficult 
to decide whether these tools were left there by the present race of 
Indians, or a more civilized race of people." He says it is unusu- 
al for the savages of our day, to take up their residence in caves ; 
considering t.hem, the places to which the devil resorts;, and. that 
they are not acquainted with the uses of saltpetre, and would rath- 
er avoid than collect it. This author considers the circumstance 
of finding those tools in the nitre caves, as furnishing a degree of 
evidence that the country of Gasconade River. was formerly settled 
by a race of men who were acquainted with the use of iron; and 
exceeded the Indians in civilzation, and a knowledge of the. arts. 



23$ AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

"But there are other facts," says he, "connected with these, 
about which there can be no mistake. Not far from this cave, is 
found the ruins of an aneient town. It appears to have been regu- 
larly laid out, and the dimensions of the squares, streets, and some 
of the houses, can yet be discovered. 

Stone walls are found in different parts of the area, which are 
frequently covered with huge heaps of earth. Missouri joins Ten- 
nessee on the west, the same as the latter does North Carolina ; 
and from a similarity of the works discovered, it would appear, 
that a population, similar in manners and pursuits, inhabited a vast 
region of country, from the Atlantic side of North Carolina, to the 
Missouri Territory. 

These discoveries rank with the architectural works of Europe, 
in the 9th and 10th centuries ; as that long before that period, the 
use of stone work had been introduced, even in the island of Bri- 
tain, by the all-conquering bands of the Romans. 

If, therefore, the Germans, Danes, Welch, Normans, Icelanders, 
Greenlanders, or Scandinavians, settled in this country, who are 
all of much the same origin, there need be no great mystery re- 
specting these discoveries, as they are to be referred to those na- 
tions from Europe, beyond all doubt. The ancient monuments of 
a country, says Dr. Morse, are intimately connected with the epochs 
of its history ; consequently, as the state of masonry, or the knowl- 
edge of stone work, discovered, as above described, in North- Caro- 
lina, Tennessee, and Missouri, is of the same character with those 
of Europe, about the time of the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th cen- 
turies, we conclude them to be wholly of European origin. 

About ten miles from the spot where the relics of this town are 
discovered, on the west side of the Gasconade River, is also found 
another stone work, still more extraordinary, as it is evident that 
its builders had indeed, a competent knowledge of constructing 
buildings of that material. It is about thirty feet square, and al- 
though in a dilapidated condition appears to have been erected 
with a great degree of regularity. It is situated on a high bold 
cliff, which commands a fine and extensive view of the country on 
all sides. From this stone work was found a foot path; running a 
devious Course down the cliff, to the entrance of a cave. These 
antiquities evidently form a distinct class, says Dr. Beck, of which, 
as yet, he had seen no description. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 239 

Of the same class has been discovered on Noyer Creek, in Mis- 
souri, the foundation of a large stone building, fifty-six feet in 
length, and twenty-two in breadth, divided into four apartments. 
The largest room occupies about one half of the whole building, 
and is nearly square ; a second in size is twelve feet by sixteen ^ 
partly oval, third, four by sixteen, a fourth, three by sixteen feet* 
The outer wall is eighteen inches thick, consisting of rough, un- 
hewn stone ; the partitions between the rooms is of the same ma- 
terial, of equal thickness with the outer wall. As an entrance in- 
to the largest room, are two door ways, the second size, one, and 
the same of the two others. — See at the bottom of the Frontispiece. 

About eighty rods from this structure, is also found the remains 
of the foundation of a stone building, nineteen feet by fifteen, in 
size, of the same character of architecture. One large oval room, 
twelve feet by twelve on an average, occupies the centre, with a 
door way, and at each end of the room, three feet by twelve, with- 
out any door way. It is probable the largest of these buildings was 
the palace of the chief, or king, of the tribe, clan, or nation ; where 
was held the legislative councils, and the affairs of Government 
were transacted. 

The second building, placed at the respectful distance of eighty 
rods, was probably the prison house, and place of execution, which 
the small narrow cells, without any outside door way, would seem to 
suggest. „ The prison in which St. Paul was confined at Rome, is 
exactly of this form and size ; which we consider a remarkable co- 
incidence, unless it is allowed, this American prison house, as we 
have supposed it was, had been fashioned after the same manner. 

We have an account of this prison, in which St. Paul was con- 
fined, which was built several hundred years before the Christian 
era, as given by a gentleman now making the tour, of Europe. It 
is as follows: 

" All parts of Italy are interesting to the scholar, and many parts 
to the Christian. Thus, near Naples, at Puteoli, I saw where Paul 
landed, and I travelled between Naples and Rome on the very 
same road over which he was led prisoner to Rome ; and if he was 
incarcerated in this city, (which I see no reason to doubt) he 
doubtless lived the greater part of the time he was here, in his own 
hired house. I have been in the same dugeon, and seen the very 
pillar to which he must have been chained. 



240 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

The prison is the Mameitine, the name and history of which, is 
familiar to every one acquainted with Roman history, as it was, for 
a long time, the only prison of the Romans. It consists of but two 
apartments, circular, and about twelve feet diameter, and six feet 
in height, the one over the other, both under ground. The only 
entrance to them originally, was through a small hole in the top cf 
each, through which the prisoner must have been let down with 
ropes, passing through the upper to reach the lower prison. These 
dungeons were large enough for the Romans, as the trial soon fol- 
lowed the imprisonment of an offender, who, if- found innocent, 
was at once liberated, but if guilty, immediately executed." — Jour- 
nal and Telegraph, vol. IV., No. 191.— 1832. 

From the Romans the German or Belgic tribes may have derived 
their first ideas of stone work, as from the Germans the Danes de- 
rived the same. The style and manner of this building, as it now 
appears, in its ruined state, agrees well with the buildings of the 
ancient Danes of the north of Europe, in the 10th and 11th cen- 
turies ; which also consisted of unhewn stone, laid up in their natu- 
ral state, the squarest, and best formed, selected, of course. In 
these buildings, says Morse, were displayed the first elements of 
the Gothic style, in which the ancient Belgae or Germans used to 
erect their castles, in the old world, eight or nine hundred years 
ago. These works of these distinct kind of antiquities, are nume- 
rous in the western countries ; the regularity, form and structure 
of which, says Dr. Beck, favors the conclusion that they were the 
work of a more civilized race than those who erected the former, 
or more ancient works of America; and that they were acquaint- 
ed with the rules of architecture, &c, [of Danish and Belgic origin,] 
and perhaps with a perfect system of warfare. 

At present, the walls of this trait of ancient times, are from two 
to five feet high, the rooms of which are entirely filled with forest 
trees ;>one of which is an oak, and was, ten years ago, nine feet in 
circumference. — Beck's Gazetteer, p. 306. 



AND DIS€OVERIES IN THE WEST. 241 



mUINS OF THE CITY OF OTOLUM, DISCOVERED IN AMERICA, 
OF PERUVIAN ORIGIN. 

In a letter of C. S. Rafinesque, whom we have before quoted, 
to a correspondent in Europe, we find the following : £i Some years 
ago, the Society of Geography in Paris offered a large premium 
for a voyage to Guatimala, in South America, and for a new survey 
of the antiquities of Yucatan and Chipapa, chiefly those fifteen 
miles from Palanque, which are wrongly called by that name." 

" I have," says this author, " restored to them the true name of 
Otolum, which is yet the name of the stream running through 
the ruins. They were surveyed by Captain Del Rio, in 1787 3 an 
account of which was published in English, in 1822. 

" This account describes partly the ruins of a stone city, of no 
less dimensions than seventy-five miles in circuit ; * length thirty- 
two, and breadth twelve miles, full of palaces, monuments, statutes 
and inscriptions ; one of the earliest seats of American civilzation, 
about equal to Thebes of ancient Egypt. 

" At Boliva, in the same country, is another mass of ancient ruins 
and mine of historical knowledge, which ho late traveller has visit- 
ed or described ;" but have been partly described only by the first 
historians of those countries of South America, the Spaniards; but 
it is hoped ere long will be by some lover of this great subject. 

When the Spaniards overran that country, about three hundred 
years ago, among the Peruvians, whose territory lies on the west- 
ern side of South America, were found statues, obelisks, mausolea, 
edifices, fortresses, all of stone, equal,, fully so, with the architec- 
ture of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, six hundred years before the 
Christian era. Roads were cut through the Cordillera mountains ; 
gold, silver, copper, and led mines,, were opened and worked^o a 
'great extent; all of which is evidence of their knowledge of 'archi- 
tecture, mineralogy and agriculture. In many places of that coun- 
try, are found the ruins of noble aqueducts, some of which, says 

♦Through mistake, on page 117, .we have' stated these ruins to be only 24 
miles in circuit, which is here corrected; .'..-'■ 

' 31 •.'••••••'■•• 



242 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Dr. Morse, the geographer, would have been thought works of diffi- 
culty in civilized nations. Several pillars of stone are now stand- 
ing, which were erected to point out the equinoxes and solstices. 
In their sepulchres were deposited and found their paintings, ves- 
sels of gold and silver, implements of warfare, husbandry, and 
fishing nets. 

To illustrate the architecural knowledge of the Peruvians as well 
as of some other provinces of South America, we quote the following 
from Baron Humboldt's Researches,, 1st vol. Eng. trans. Amer. 
edt, p. 255. " This plate," referring to one which is found in one 
of the volumes of his Researches, in the French language ; " re- 
presents the plan and inside of the small building which occupies 
the centre of the esplanade, in the citadel of Cannar, supposed to 
be a guard house. I sketched this drawing with the greater exact- 
ness, because the remains of Peruvian architecture, scattered along 
the ridge of the Cordilleras, from Cuzco to Cajambe, or from the 
13th degree of north latitude to the equator, a distance of nearly a 
thousand miles. What an empire, and what works are these, which 
all bear the same character, in the cut of the stones, the shape of 
the doors to their stone buildings, the symmetrical disposal of the 
niches, and the total absence of the exterior ornaments. This uni- 
formity of construction is so great that all the stations along the 
high road, called in that country palaces of the Incas, or kings of 
the Peruvians, appear to have been copied from each other ; sim- 
plicity, symmetry, and solidity, were the three characters, by which 
the Peruvian edifices were distinguished. The citadel of Cannar, 
and the square buildings surrounding it, are not constructed with 
the same quartz sandstone, which covers the primitive slate, and 
the prophyries of Assuay ; and which appears at the surface, in 
the garden of the Inca, as we descend toward the valley of Gulan, 
but of trappean prophyry, of great hardness, enclosing nitrous 
feldspar, and hornblende. This porphyry was perhaps dug in the 
great quarries which are found at 4000 metres in height, (which 
is 1,200 feet and a fraction, making two and a third miles in per- 
pendicular height,) near the lake of Culebrilla, nearly ten miles 
from Cannar. To cut the stones for the buildings of Cannar, at so 
great a height, and to bring them down, and transport them ten 
miles, is equal with any of the works of the ancients, who built 
the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabia, long before the 
Christian era, in Naples of Italy* N 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 243 

" We do not find, however," says Humboldt, " in the ruins of 
Cannar, those stones of enormous size, which we see in the Peru- 
vian edifices of Cuzco and the neighboring countries. Acosto, he 
says, measured some at Traquanaco^ which were twelve metres 
(38 feet) long, and five metres eight tenths, (18 feet) broad, and 
one metre nine tenths (6 feet) thick." The stones made use of in 
building the temple of Solomon, were but a trifle larger than these, 
some of which were twenty-five cubits, (43 feet 9 inches) long, 
twelve cubits (29 feet) wide, and eight cubits, (14 feet thick,) 
reckoning twenty-one inches to the cubit. 

And who is prepared to disallow that the ancestors of the Peru- 
vians in South America, did not derive their knowledge of stone 
cutting and building, from the Jews, in the days of Solomon, a 
thousand years before the Christian era, w T hich is so wonderfully 
imitated in the palaces of the Incas. 

" One of the temples of ancient Egypt is now, in its state of 
ruin, a mile and a half in circumference. It has twelve principal 
entrances. The body of the temple consists of a prodigious hall or 
portico ; the roof is supported by 134 columns. Four beautiful 
obelisks markihe entrance to the shrine, a place of sacrifice, which 
contains three apartments, built entirely of granite. The temple 
of Luxor, probably surpasses in beauty and splendor all the other 
ruins of Egypt. In front are two of the finest obelisks in the world ; 
they are of rose colored marble, one hundred feet high. 

But the objects which most attract attention, are the sculptures 
which cover the whole of the northern front. They contain, on a 
great scale, a representation of a victory gained by one of the an- 
cient kings of Egypt over an enemy. The number of human 
figures, cut in the solid stone, amounts tu 1,500 ; of these, 500 are 
on foot, and 1,000 in chariots. Such are the remains of a city, 
which perished long before the records of ancient history had a 
being." — Malte-Brun. 

We are compelled to ascribe some of the vast operations of the 
ancient nations of this country, to those ages which correspond with 
the times and manners of the people of Egypt, which are also be- 
yond the reach of authentic history. 

It should be recollected that the fleets of king Hiram navigated 
the seas in a surprising manner, seeing they had not, as is suppos- 
ed, (but not proven,) a knowledge of the magnetic needle ; and in 



344 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

some voyage out of the Mediterranean, into the Atlantic, they may 
have been driven to South America ; where having found a coun- 
try, rich in all the resources of nature, more so than even their na- 
tive country, founded a kingdom, built cities, cultivated fields, mar- 
shalled armies, made roads, built aqueducts, became rich, magnifi- 
cent and powerful, as the vastness and extent of the ruins of Peru, 
and other provinces of South America, plainly show. 

Humboldt says, that he saw at Pullal, three houses made of 
stone, which were built by the Incas, each of which was more than 
fifty metres, or an hundred and fifty feet long, laid in a cement, ox 
true mortar. This fact, he says, deserves attention, because trav- 
ellers who had preceded him, had unanimously overlooked this cir- 
cumstance, asserting, that the Peruvians were unacquainted with 
the use of mortar, but is erroneous. The Peruvians not only em- 
ployed a mortar, in the great edifices of Pacaritambo, but made use 
of a cement of asphaltum; a mode of construction, which on the 
banks of the Euphrates and the Tigris, may be traced back to the 
Temotest antiquity. The tools made use of to cut their stone was 
copper, hardened with tin, the same the ancients of the old world 
made use of among the Greeks and Romans, and other nations, of 
which we have spoken, in another place of this work. 

To show the genius and enterprise of the natives of Mexico, be- 
fore America was discovered, we give the following as but a single 
instance : Montazuma, the last king but one of Mexico, in the 
year 1446, forty-six years before the discovery of America by Co- 
lumbus, erected a dyke to prevent the overflowing of the waters 
of certain small lakes in the vicinity of their city, which had sev- 
eral times deluged it. This dyke consisted of a bank of stones 
and clay, supported on each side by a range of palisadoes ; extend- 
ing in its whole length about seventy miles, and sixty-five feet 
broad, its whole length sufficiently high to intercept, the overflow- 
ings of the lakes, in times of high water, occasioned by the spring 
floods. In Holland, the Dutch have resorted to the same means to 
prevent incursions of the sea ; and the longest of the many is but 
forty miles in extent, nearly one half short of the Mexican dyke. 
" Amidst the extensive plains of Upper Canada, in Florida, near 
the Gulf of Mexico, aad in the deserts bordered by the Orinoco, in 
Colombia, South America, dykes of a considerable length, weapons 
of brass, and sculptured stones^ are found, which are the indica- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 245 

tions that those countries were formerly inhabited by industrious 
nations, which are now traversed only by tribes of savage hunters." 
Humboldt. Samuel R. Brown, author of the Western Gazetteer, 
1817, says, he examined one of those remains of the ancient na- 
tions, situated upon the mouth of the Big Scioto river on a high 
bank of the Ohio, a half mile from the water. He has no doubt it 
was a military position of great strength, and describes it as follows : 

" The walls are yet standing, and enclosing as nearly as I could 
ascertain, by pacing fourteen acres of ground. It is of a square 
form" (like the ancient Roman military works.) " The officious 
hand of civilized man has not yet marred the wood which shade 
these venerable ruins; nor has any curious antiquarian multilated 
the walU by digging in search of hidden treasure. The walls in 
many places are yet sixteen feet high, and no where less than eight. 
At their base they are about thirty feet wide, and wide enough at 
their top to admit a horse team and waggon. There are seven 
gateways, 3 on the west, 2 on the east, and 2 on the north, all 
being about 20 feet wide. On the northwest side are the ruins of 
a covered way, extending to a creek, at the distance of 280 rods. 
The covering is fallen in, and large trees are yawning in the ditch. 
On the west side are two covered ways, leading also to the same 
creek, these are apart from each other about 30 feet, and extend- 
ing about 40 rods till they reach the stream. These walls are as 
wide and as high as the walls of the fort. On the east side, are 
also two covered ways at convenient distances from each other, 
leading to another small creek. 

Thus the garrison of this ancient fortification had jive avenues 
through which they could safely procure water." This could nev- 
er have been the work of the common Indians. 



246 



AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



GREAT STONE CALENDAR OF THE MEXICANS, BEING A FAC 
SIMILE FROM THE SAME IN HUMBOLDT'S VOLUME OF R£, 
SEARCHES, 




This stone was found near toe site of the present city cf Mexico, 
buried some feet beneath the soil, of the same character on which 
wa» engraven an almost infinite number of hieroglyphics, signify- 
ing the divisions of time, the motions of the heavenly bodies, the 
twelve signs of the Zodiac, with references to the feasts and sacri- 
fices of the Mexicans, and is called by Humboldt, the Mexican 
Calendar, in relief, on basalt. 

This deservedly celebrated historiographer and antiquarian, has 
devoted an hundred pages and more of his octavo work, entitled 
" Researches in America," in describing the similarity which ex- 
ists between its representations of astrology, astronomy, and the 
divisions of time, and those of a great multitude of the nations of 
Asia; Chinese, Japanese, Calmucks, Moghols, Mantchaus, and 
other Tartar nations ; the Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, Phce- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 24*t 

nicians, Greeks, Romans, Hebrews, and ancient Celtic nations of 
Europe. 3ec the American edition, by Helen Maria Williams, 1st 
Volume. The size of this stone was very great, being a fraction 
over twelve feet square, three feet in thickness, weighing twenty- 
four tons. It is of the kind of stone denominated trappean pro- 
phyry, of the blackish grey color. 

The place where it was found was more than thirty miles from 
any quarry of the kind ; from which we discover the ability of the 
ancient inhabitants, not only to transport stones of great size, as 
well as the ancient Egyptians, in building their cities and temples 
of Marble, but also to cut and engrave on stone, equal with the 
present age. 

It was discovered in the vale of Mexico, forty-two years ago, in 
the spot where Cortez ordered it to be buried, when, with his fero- 
cious Spaniards, that country was devastated. That Spaniard uni- 
versally broke to pieces all idols of stone, which came ip his way, 
except such as w T ere too large and strong to be quickly and easily 
thus effected. Such he buried, among which this sculptured stone 
was one. This was done to hide them from the sight of the na- 
tives, whose strong attachment, whenever they saw them, counter- 
acted their conversion to the Roman Catholic religion. 

The sculptured work on this stone, is in circles ; the outer one 
of all, is a trifle over 27 feet in circumference; from which the 
reader can have a tolerable notion of its size and appearance. The 
whole stone is intensely crowded with an infinity of representa- 
tions and hieroglyphics ; arranged however, in order and harmony, 
every way equal with any astronomical calendar of the present day. 
It is further described by Baron Humboldt, who saw and examined 
it on the spot. 

" The concentric circles, the numerous divisions and subdivisions, 
engraven in this stone, are traced with mathematical precision ; the 
more minutely the detail of this sculpture is examined, the greater 
the taste we find in the repetition of the same forms. In the cen- 
tre of the stone is sculptured the celebrated sign nahui-olin-Tona- 
tiuh, the Sun ; which is surrounded by eight triangular radii. The 
god Tonatiuh or the Sun, is figured on this stone, opening his large 
mouth, armed with teeth, with the tongue protruded to a great 
length. This yawning mouth, and protruded tongue, is like the 
image of Kala, or in another work, Time, a divinity of Hindostan, 



34S AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Its dreadful mouth, armed with teeth, is meant to show, that the 
god, Tonatiuh, or Time, swallows the world, opening a fiery mouth 
devouring the years, months, and days, as fast as they come into 
being. The same image we find under the name of Moloch, a- 
mong the Phoenicians," the ancient inhabitants of a part of Africa, 
on the southern side of the Mediterranean ; from which very coun- 
try, there can be but little doubt, America received a portion of its 
earliest inhabitants ; hence, a knowledge of the arts to great per- 
fection, as found among the Mexicans, was thus derived. Hum- 
boldt says, the Mexicans, have evidently followed the Persians, in 
the division of time, as represented on this stone. The Persians 
flourished 1500 years before Christ. 

" The structure of the Mexican aqueducts, leads the imagination 
at once, to the shores of the Mediterranean." — Thomas'* Travels, 
p. 293. The size, grandeur, and riches, of the tumuli on the 
European and Asiatic sides of the Cimmerian Strait," (which unites 
the Black Sea with the Archipelago, a part of the Mediterranean, 
the region of ancient Greece, where the capital of Turkey in Eu- 
rope now stands, called Constantinople,) " excite astonishing ideas 
of the wealth and power of the people by whom they were con- 
structed ; and in view of labor so prodigious, as well as expendi- 
ture so enormous, for the mere purpose of inhuming a single body, 
customs and superstitions which illustrate the origin of the pyra- 
mids of Egypt, the cavern of Elephanta, and the first temples of 
the ancient world." — Thomas'' Travels. 

But whatever power, wealth, genius, magnitude of tumuli- 
mounds, and pyramids, are found about the Mediterranean ; where 
the Egyptian, the Phoenician, Persian, and the Greek, have dis- 
played the monuments of this most ancient sort of antiquities : all, 
all is realised in North and South America ; and doubtless under 
the influence of the same superstition, and eras of time ; having 
crossed over, as before argued ; and among the various aboriginal 
nations of South and North America^ but especially the former, 
are undoubtedly found the descendants of the fierce Medes and 
Persians, and other warlike nations of the old world. . 

The discoveries of travellers in that country, show, even at the 
present time, that the ancient customs, in relation to secuiing their 
habitations with a wall, still prevails. Towns in the interior of 
Africa, on the River Niger, of great extent, are found to be sur- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 249 

rounded by walls of earth, in the same manner as those of the west 
in North America. 

See the account as given by Richard Lardner : " On the 4th of 
May we entered a town of prodigious extent, fortified with three 
walls, of little less than twenty miles in circuit, with ditches, or 
moats between. This town, called Boo-hoo, and is in latitude of 
about 8 degrees 43 minutes north, and longitude 5 degrees 10 min- 
utes, east. On the 17th we came to Roossa, which is a cluster of 
huts walled with earth." 

This traveller states, that there is a kingdom there called Yaarie, 
which is large, powerful, and flourishing ; a city which is of pro- 
digious extent ; the wall surrounding it is of clay or earth, and 
very high, its circuit, between twenty and thirty miles. He men- 
tions several other places, enclosed by earth walls in the same 
manner. 

It is easy to perceive the resemblance between these walled 
towns in central Africa, and the remains of similar works in this 
country, America. 



GREAT STONE CASTLE OF ICELAND. 

In Iceland, which is not far from Greenland, and Greenland is 
not far from the coast of America, has been found the remains of 
ancient architecture, of no less dimensions than two hundred rods 
in circumference, built of stone, the wall of which, in some places, 
as related by Van Troil, was an hundred and twenty feet high ; this 
was the Norwegian castle, of wonderful strength and magnitude, 
and of the same character with ruins found in this country, and in 
South America. 

Iceland is but an hundred and twenty miles east of Greenland, 
and Greenland is supposed to be connected with America, far to 
the north. This island is considerable larger than the state of New 
York, being four hundred miles in length, and two hundred and 
seventy in breadth. s It was discovered by a Norwegian pirate, na- 
med Nardoddr, in the year 861, as he was driven out to sea by an 

32 



250 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

eastern storm on his way from Norway, which is the northern ]5£ff 
of Europe, to the Feroe islands. 

Soon after this, in the year 870, it was colonized from Norway? 
under the direction of a man named Ingalf, and sixty years after? 
which would bring it to 930, the whole island was inhabited. But 
they were without any regular government, being distracted with? 
the wars of several chiefs, for a long series of years, during which 7 
Iceland was a scene of rapine and butchery. It is natural to sup- 
pose, during such conflicts, many families, from time to time, would 
leave the island, in quest of some other dwelling. This was in 
their power to do, as they had a knowledge of navigation, in a good 
degree, derived from the Romans, at the time they ruled the most 
of Europe, nine hundred years before. 

That Greenland, or countries lying west of Iceland, existed; 
eould but be known to the Icelanders, from the flights of birds of 
passage, and from driftwood, which, to this day, is driven, in large 
quantities, from America, by the Gulf Stream r and deposited on? 
the western coast of that island. — Morse. 

In this way, it is highly probable, the first Europeans found their 
way to America, and became the authors of those vast ruins built 
©f stone, found in various parts of America. The language of the 
Icelanders, is, even now, after so long a lapse of ages, much the 
same with that spoken in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway ; so that 
they understand the most ancient traditional history of their ances- 
tors. The characters they made use of were Runic, and were but 
sixteen in number; but about the year 1000, the Latin, or Roman 
letters superceded the use of the ancient Runic. 

Dr. Morse says, the arts and sciences were extensively cultiva- 
ted in Norway, at the time when Iceland was first settled by them f 
and while the traces of literature were diminished 3 and at length- 
destroyed, in Norway, by the troubles which shook the whole north 
of Europe for several ages ; they were, on the contrary, carefully 
preserved in Iceland. 

From this we may safely infer, that America, having received 
its first European colonies from Iceland ; who had not only a 
knowledge of architecture, in a degree, but of navigation also, with 
that of science ; that in the very regions where villas, cities, culti- 
vated fields, roads, canals, rail-ways, with all the glory of the pres- 
ent age,, exist along the Atlantic coast,. — also flourished the wo*k& 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 251 

«5J: a former population — the Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians, civ- 
ilized nations, centuries before Columbus was born, but who have 
passed away, by the means of wars, with the more ancient nations 
of America, or with the common enemy of both— the Tartar hordes 
from Asia, now called the American Indians — leaving forever the 
labor of ages, which, here and there, are discovered, the relics of 
their architectural knowledge. 

An hundred and twenty-one years after the discovery of Iceland, 
Greenland was discovered also 3 by the Norwegians, who planted a 
•colony there ; and in a little time after, the country was provided 
with two Christian churches and bishops; between which and 
Norway, the mother country, a considerable amount of commerce 
was carried on, till 1406 ; a lapse of years amounting to about four 
hundred and eighty-three, before the discovery of America by Co j 
lumbus ; when all intercourse between the two countries ceased) 
occasioned probably by the convulsions and wars of Europe at that 
period. 

The whole of that population, it is supposed, was lost, as no tra- 
ces of them are found ; the climate of that region, as is evident, 
has since undergone a great change, from an accumulation of ice 
and snow from the northern sea, so as to render the coast, where 
those settlements were, wholly inaccessible. — Morse. 

Is it not possible, that as they found the severity of the weather 
increasing rapidly upon them, they may have removed to the coast 
of Labrador, and from thence down the coast, till they came to the 
rigion of the Canadas, where are discovered the traces of ancient 
nations, in vast lines of fortications, as attested to by the most ap- 
proved authority r Humboldt and others. 



A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF EUROPEAN SETTLEMENTS. 

There are the remains of one of those efforts of Scandinavian 
defence, situated on a hill of singular form, on the great sand plain 
between the Susquehannah and Chemung rivers, near their junc- 
tion. The hill is entirely isolated, about three-fourths of a mile in 
circumference, and more than an hundred feet high. It has been 



252 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

supposed to be artificial, and to belong to the ancient nations to 
which all works of this sort generally belong. However, the in- 
habitants living round it, do not believe it to be artificial, on ac- 
count of large stones situated on its sides, too heavy to have been 
placed there by art of man. 

In the surrounding plain are many deep holes, of twenty or thir- 
ty rods circumference, and twenty feet deep ; favoring a belief that 
from these, the earth was scooped out to form the hill with. It is 
four acres large on its top, and perfectly level, beautifully situated 
to overlook the country, to a great distance, up and down both riv- 
ers. But whether the hill be artificial or not, there are on its top 
the remains of a wall, formed of earth, stone and wood, which 
runs round the whole, exactly on the brow. The wood is decayed 
and turned to mould, yet it is traceable and easily distinguished 
from the natural earth. Within is a deep ditch or entrenchment, 
running round the whole summit. From this it is evident, that a 
war was once waged here ; and were we to conjecture between 
whom, we should say, between the Indians and Scandinavians ; 
and that this fortification, so advantageously chosen, is of the same 
class of defensive works with those about Onondaga, Auburn, and 
the lakes Ontario, Cayuga, Seneca, Oneida, and Erie. As it is 
known, or not pretended, that the Scandinavians did not make set- 
tlements on the continent earlier than 985 ; there cannot be a doubt 
but they had to fight their way among the Indians, more or less, 
the same as we did when first we colonized the coast of the At- 
lantic, along the seabord of the New-England states. 

But as these Scandinavians, Norwegians, Scotch, and Welch, 
were fewer in number than the Indians, and without the means of 
recruiting from the mother country, as was our case ; they at length 
fell a prey to this enemy, or became amalgamated with them, and 
so w r ere lost ; the traces of whom appear, now and then, among 
the tribes, as we have shown. 

We are strongly inclined to believe the following articles, found 
in the town of Pompey, Onondaga county, N. Y., are of Scandina- 
vian origin. In Pompey, on lot No. 14, is the site of an ancient 
burying ground, upon which, when the country was first settled, 
was found timber growing apparently of the second growth, judg- 
ing from the old timber, reduced to mould, lying round, which was 
an hundred years old, ascertained by counting the concentric grains. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- 253 

In one of these graves was found a glass bottle about the size of a 
common junk bottle, having a stopple in its muzzle, and in the 
bottle was a liquid of some sort, but was tasteless. This fact was 
related to us by a Mr. Higgins, some time sheriff' of Onondaga 
county, who both saw the bottle and tasted the liquid at the time 
it was discovered, but could not tell of what kind, as it was tasteless. 

But is it possible, that the Scandinavians could have had glass in 
their possession, at so early a period as the year 950 and there- 
about, so as to have brought it with them from Europe when their 
first settlements were made in this country ? We see no good 
reason why not, as glass had been in use nearly three hundred years 
in Europe, before the northern Europeans are reputed to have found 
this country ; the art of making glass having been discovered in 
the year of our Lord 644. In the same grave with the bottle, was 
found an iron hatchet, edged with steel. The eye, or place for the 
helve was round, and extended or projected out, like the ancient 
Swiss or German axe. On lot No. 9, in the same town, was an- 
other aboriginal burying ground, covered with forest trees, as the oth- 
er. In the same town, on lot No. 17, were found the remains of 
a blacksmith's forge. At this spot have been ploughed up cruci- 
bles, such as mineralogists use in refining metals. 

These axes are similar, and correspond in character with those 
found in the nitrous caves on the Gasconade river, which empties 
into the Missouri, as mentioned in Professor Beck's Gazetteer of 
that country. In the same town are the remains of two ancient 
forts or fortifications, with redoubts, of a very extensive and formi- 
dable character. Within the range of these works, have been 
found pieces of cast iron, broken from some vessel of considerable 
thickness. These articles cannot well be ascribed to the era of the 
French war, as time enough since then, till the region round about 
Onondaga was commenced to be cultivated, had not elapsed to give 
the growth of timber found on the spot, of the age above noticed ; 
and added to this, it is said, that the Indians, occupying that tract 
of country, had no tradition of their authors. 

The reader will recollect, a few pages back, we have noticed 
the discovery of a place called Estotiland, supposed to be Nova- 
Scotia, in 1354, the inhabitants of which were Europeans, who 
cultivated grain, lived in stone houses, and manufactured beer, as 
in Europe at that day. Now, from the year 1354, till the time of 



H#4 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

the first settlements made in Onondaga county, by the present in- 
habitants, is about four hundred years ; is it not possible, therefore, 
that this glass bottle; with some kind of liquor in it, may have been 
■derived from this Estotiland, having been originally brought from 
Europe ; as glass had been in use, more or less, there from the 
year 644, till the Scandinavians colonized Iceland, Greenland, and 
Estotiland, or Newfoundland. The hatchets or iron axes, found 
here, were likely of the same origin with the pieces of cast iron. 

In ploughing the earth, digging wells, canals, or excavating for 
salt waters, about the lakes, new discoveries are frequently made, 
which as clearly show the operations of ancient civilization here, 
as the works of the present race would do, were they left to the 
operations of time for five or six hundred years ; especially were 
this country to be totally overrun by the whole consolidated savage 
tribes of the west, exterminating both the worker and his works, 
as appears to have been done in ages past. 

In Scipio, on Salmon creek, a Mr. Halsted has, from time to 
time, during ten years past, ploughed up, on a certain extent of 
land on his farm, seven or eight hundred pounds of brass, which 
appeared to have once been formed into various implements, both 
of husbandry and war ; helmets and working utensils mingle to- 
gether. 

The finder of this brass, we are informed, from time to time, as 
he discovered it by ploughing, carried it to Auburn, and sold it by 
the pound, where it was worked up with as little curiosity attend- 
ing it, as though it had been but an ordinary article of the coun- 
try's produce : when if it had been announced in some public 
manner, the finder would have, doubtless, been highly rewarded 
by some scientific individual or society, and preserved it in the ca- 
binets of the antiquarian, as a relic of by-gone ages, of the highest 
interest. 

On this field, where it was found, the forest timber was growing 
as abundantly, and had attained to as great age and size as else- 
where in the heavy timbered country of the lakes. 

In the same field was also found much wrought iron, which fur- 
nished Mr. Halsted with a sufficiency to shoe his horses for seve- 
ral years. Hatchets of iron were also found there, formed in the 
manner the ancient Swiss or German hatchet or small axe is 
formed. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 255 

From the above account, we cannot resist the conclusion that on 
this farm in Scipio, was situated an European village, of Danes or 
Welch, who were cut off and exterminated by the fortunes of war ? 
some hundred years before the discovery of America by Columbus ; 
when it is likely their town was destroyed by the fire of the enemy, 
their articles of brass broken in pieces, and in the course of ages- 
became buried by the earth, by the increase of vegetable mould y 
and the growth of the wilderness. 

If, then, we have discovered the traits of a clan or village of 
Europeans, who had a know ledge of the use of brass and iron, as 
the Danes certainly had, long before they colonized Iceland, Green- 
land and Labrador, why not be allowed to conjecture, nay more, 
to believe, that many others in different parts overspread the lake 
country to a great extent. 

On the Black River, running from the northern part of the state 
of New- York into Lake Ontario, a man was digging a well, when 
at the depth of several feet, he came to a quantity of China and 
Delph ware. This is equally surprising with the field of brass. 

A Mr. Thomas Lee discovered, not long since, on his farm, in 
Tompkins county, in the state of New- York, the entire iron works 
of a wagon, reduced to rust. From this discovery much might 
be conjectured respecting the state of cultivation, as a wagon de- 
notes not only a knowledge of the mechanic arts, equal, perhaps, in 
that respect with the present times ; but also that roads existed, or 
a wagon could not have traversed the country. 

That the wagon was brought there by the Spaniards, who it is- 
said, very soon after the discovery of America explored these north- 
ern and further regions, in quest of minerals, because roads at that 
time did not exist ; and for the same reason none of the first set- 
tlers of the New England coast, had penetrated so far in the wilds 
with a wagon as to give time for it to rust entirely aivay before the 
late settlement of the western country. 

If one wagon existed, there were doubtless many; which plain- 
ly shows a civilized state of things, with all the conveniences of an 
agricultural life ; which would also require towns and places of re- 
sort — as market places for produce — or a wagon could not have been 
of any use to the owner. Anvils of iron have been found in Pom- 
pey, in the same quarter of the country with the other discoveries, 
as above related j which we should naturally expect to find, or it 



256 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

might be inquired, how could axes, and the iron works of wagons 
be manufactured ? 

. On the flats of the Genesee River, on the land of Mr. Liberty 
Judd, was found by this gentleman, a bit of silver, about the length 
of a man's finger, hammered to a point at one end, while the other 
was square and smooth, on which were cut, or engraved, in Arabic 
figures^ the year of our Lord 600. 

The discovery of the remains of a wagon, as above stated, goes 
also to prove that some kind of animal must have been domesti- 
cated to draw it with — either the horse, the ox, or the buffalo. 
The horse, it is said, was not known in America till the Spaniards 
introduced it from Europe after the time of its discovery by Co- 
lumbus, which has multiplied prodigiously on the innumerable 
wilds and prairies of both South and North America ; yet the track 
of a horse is found on a mountain of Tennessee, in the rock of the 
enchaoted mountain as before related, and shows that horses were 
known in America in the earliest ages after the flood. 

It is likely, however, that the Danes, who are believed once to 
have occupied the whole lake country 3 had domesticated the buffa- 
lo, as other nations, have done, by which they were aided in agri- 
cultural pursuits, as we are now by the ox. 

From what we have related respecting these European appear- 
ances in America, the traits of a Scandinavian, Welch, and Scotch 
population, it is clear that the remark of Professor Beck, was not 
made without sufficient reason ; which is : " They certainly form 
a class of antiquities entirely distinct from the walled towns, for- 
tifications, barrows, or mounds." Page 315. 



A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF WESTERN ANTIQUITIES-. 

But as to the state of the arts, among the more ancient nations 
of America, some idea may be gathered from what has been already 
said. That they manufactured brick of a good quality, is known 
from the discoveries made on opening their tumuli. A vast many 
instances of articles made of copper and sometimes plated with sil- 
ver, have been met with on opening their works. Circular pieces 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 257 

of copper, intended either as medals or breast plates, have been 
found, several inches in diameter, very much injured by time. In 
several tumuli, the remains of knives and even of swords, in the 
form of rust, have been discovered. 

Glass has not been discovered in any of their works in the Ohio 
except one ; from which we learn at once that thase works were 
made at least more than eleven hundred and sixty years ago ; as 
the manufacture of glass was not discovered till the year of our 
Lord 664. But there is no doubt of their having inhabited this 
country from the remotest antiquity, drawn from data heretofore 
noticed in this work. " Mirrors made of isinglass, have been found 
in as many as fifty places, within my own knowledge, says Mr. 
Atwater, besides the large and very elegant one at Circleville. 
From the great thickness of those micac membraneca Mirrors, they 
answered the purpose for which they were made very well. 

Their houses, in some instances, might have been built of stone 
and brick, as in the walled towns on Paint Creek, and some few 
other places, yet their habitations were of wood, or they dwelt in 
tents ; otherwise their ruins would be met with in every part of 
this great country. 

Along the Ohio, where the river is, in many places, wearing 
and washing away its banks, hearths and fire places are brought to 
light, two, four, and even six feet below the surface, these are also 
found on the banks of the Muskingum, at its mouth, and at Point 
Harman, opposite Marietta. Two stone covers of stone vessels, 
were found in a stone mound, in Ross county, in Ohio, ingeniously 
wrought, and highly polished. These covers resembled almost ex- 
actly, and were quite equal to vessels of that material manufactured 
in Italy at the present time. 

An urn was found in a mound, a few miles from Chilicothe, 
which, a few years since, was in the hands of a Mr. J. W. Collet, 
who lived in that place, about a foot high, and well proportioned ; 
it very much resembles one found in a similar work in Scotland, 
I mentioned in Pennant's Tour, vol. 1, page 154, 4th London edition, 
1 1790. It contained arrow heads, ashes, and calcined or burnt hu- 
|man bones. In digging a trench on the Sandusky river, in alluvial 
;arth, at a depth of six feet, was found a pipe, which displays great 
taste in its execution. The rim of the bowl is in high relief, and 
pie front represents a beautiful female face. The stone of which 

33 



258 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

it is made the real talc graphique exactly resembling the stone of 
which the Chinese make their idols. No talc of this species is 
known to exist on the west side of the Alleghanies ; it must, there- 
fore, have been brought, at some remote period, from some part of 
the old world. 

Fragments of fishing nets and mocasins, or shoes made of a spe- 
cies of weed, have been found in the nitrous caves of Kentucky. 
The mummies which have been found in these places, were wrap- 
ped in a coarse species of linin cloth, of about the consistency and 
texture of cotton bagging. It was evidently woven by the same 
kind of process which is still practised in the interior of Africa. 
The warp being extended by some slight kind of machinery, the 
woof was passed across it, and then twisted, every two threads of 
warp together, before the second passage of the filliug. This seems 
to have been the first rude method of weaving in Asia, Africa and 
America." 

If s», then it is clear, that the inhabitants of America, who had 
the knowledge of this kind of fabrication, did indeed belong to an 
era as ancient as the first people of Asia itself, and even before 
the settlement of Europe ; this is not a small witness in favor of 
our opinion of the extreme antiquity of those ancient works of the 
west. Other nations, however, have, from time to time mingled 
among them by various means, as we have, in some measure re- 
counted, heretofore. 

A second envelope of these mummies, is a kind of net work, of 
coarse threads, formed of very small loose meshes, in which were 
fixed the feathers of various kinds of birds, so as to make a per- 
fectly smooth surface, lying all in one direction. The art of this 
tedious but beautiful manufacture, was well understood in Mexico, 
and still exists on the northwest coast of America, and in the islands 
of the Pacific. In these islands it is the state or court dress. The 
third and outer envelope of these mummies, is either like the one 
first described, or consists of leather, sewed together. — American 
Antq. Society. 

The manufacture of leather from the hides of animals, is a very- 
ancient invention, known to almost all the nations of the earth ; 
but to find it in America, wrapped around mummies, as in several 
instances found in nitrous caves, and in the Kentucky caverns, 
shows a knowledge of a branch of the arts, in the possession of the 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 259 

people of America, at an era coeval with the Egyptians — as the 
art of embalming is found in connexion with that of tanning the 
skins of animals. Respecting the fact of leather being the outer 
wrapper of some of the mummies discovered, Mr. Atwater says, 
his authority is the statement of Mr. Clifford, of Lexington, Ken- 
tucky who was also a member of the American Antiquarian Society. 

There was a small vessel found on the Ohio flats, at a depth of 
twelve feet, made of the same materials with the mortars now in 
use among physicians aud apothecaries, manufactured in Europe. 
It holds about three quarts, comes to a point at its bottom, has a 
groove around it near the middle, with two ears, though a chain 
was probably inserted, so as to suspend it over fire, as it has on it 
the marks of that element, and was probably a crucible, for melt- 
ing metals, and the chain handle shows the ingenuity of its con- 
struction, by its being placed near the middle of the crucible, in 
order to preduce an equipoise, when the refiner wished to pour out 
his lead, his iron, or his silver : However, it may have been only 
a culinary vessel. 

Among the vast variety of discoveries made in the mounds, tu- 
muli and fortifications of these people, have been found not only 
hatchets made of stone ; but axes as large, and much of the same 
shape with those made of iron at the present day ; also pickaxes 
and pestles, see plate Nos. 11 and 12 ; with various other instru- 
ments, made of stone. But besides, there have been found very 
well manufactured swords and kniyes of iron, and possibly steel, 
says Mr. Atwater. 

If so, this also is an argument of the great and primeval antiqui- 
ty of those settlements ; for we are to suppose men kuew more of 
iron and steel, at the time of the building of Babel, than in after 
ages, when they became dispersed, and, from peculiar circumstan- 
ces, lost that peculiar art, and therefore, in the time of the Greeks, 
in the year 1406 before Christ, it was discovered anew. From 
which we are to conclude, that the primitive people of America, 
either discovered the use of iron themselves, as the Greeks did, or, 
that they learned its use from this circumstance ; or that they car- 
ried a knowledge of this ore, with them at the time of their dis- 
persion ; as received from Noah's family, who brought it from be- 
yond the flood, discovered in or before the days of Tubal Cain, 
which was only about 500 years after the creation. 



260 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Dr. Clarke says, that from the manufacture of certain articles, 
in the wilderness, by the Israelites, iron, and even steel, must have 
been known, which was an age preceding its knowledge among the 
Greeks, nearly an hundred years. If this was so, it follows, they 
must have learned it, or rather they must have borrowed the very 
instruments of iron and steel, when they left Egypt ; as they had 
no means of making such instruments from the ore, in the wil- 
derness. 

If, then, the art was learned of the Egyptians, by the Israelites, 
the knowledge of iron and steel existed among that people more 
than three hnndred years before it was known among the Greeks, 
and perhaps much earlier, as that the Egyptians were ahead of all 
other nations in arts and inventions. 



A DISCRIPTION OF INSTRUMENTS FOUND IN THE TUMULI. 

In removing the earth, which composed an ancient mound, si- 
tuated where now one of the streets of Marietta runs, several cu- 
rious articles were discovered in 1819. They appear to have been 
buried with the body of the person to whose memory this mound 
was erected. 

Lying immediately on the forehead of this skeleton, were found 
three large circular ornaments, which had adorned a sword belt, or 
buckler, and were composed of copper, overlaid with a plate of 
silver; The fronts, or show sides were slightly convex, with a 
deep depression, like a cup, in the centre, and measured two inches 
and a quarter across the face of each. On the back side, opposite 
the depressed portion, is a copper rivet, around which are two sep- 
arate plates, by which they were fastened to the leather belt. 
The two pieces of leather resembled the skin of a mummy, and 
seemed to have been preserved by the salts of the copper ; the 
plates were nearly reduced to an oxyde or rust. The silver looked 
quite black, but was not much corroded, as on rubbing it became 
bright and clear. 

Around one of the rivers was a small quantity, of what appeared 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 261 

to be, flax or hemp, in a tolerable state of preservation. Near the 
side of the body was found a plate of silver, which appeared to 
have been the upper part of a sword scabbard; it was six inches 
long, and two broad, with two longitudinal ridges, which probably 
corresponded with the edges or ridges of the sword once sheathed 
by it, and appeared to have been fastened to the scabbard by seve- 
ral rivets, the holes of which remain in the plate. 

Two or three pieces of a copper tube, were also found with this 
body, filled with iron rust. The pieces, from their appearances, 
composed the lower end of the scabbard, near the point of the 
sword, but no sign of the sword itself, except a streak of rust its 
whole length. 

We learn from this that the person who was buried there, was a 
warrior, as the sword declares ; and also that the people, of whom 
he was an individual, were acquainted with the arts of civilized 
life, which appears from the sheath, the flax, the copper, and the 
silver, but more especially as the silver was plated on the copper. 
Near the feet was found a piece of copper, weighing three ounces, 
which from its shape, appeared to have been used as a plumb, as 
near one of the ends is a crease or groove, for tying a thread ; it 
is round and two inches and a half in length, one inch in diame- 
ter at the centre, and an half inch at the small or upper end. 

It was composed of small pieces of native copper, pounded to- 
gether, and in the cracks between the pieces were stuck several 
bits of silver, one nearly the size of a sixpence. This copper 
plumb was covered with a coat of green rust, and was considerably 
corroded. 

A piece of red ochre, or paint, and a piece of iron ore, which 
had the appearance of having been partially vitrified, or melt- 
ed, was also found in this tumulus ; the bit of ore was nearly 
pure iron. 

The body of the person here buried, was laid on the surface of 
the earth, with his face upwards, and his feet pointing to the north- 
east, and his head to the southwest. 

From the appearance of several pieces of charcoal, and bits of 
partially burnt seacoal, and the black color of the earth, it would 
appear that the funeral obsequies had been celebrated by fire ; and 
that while the ashes were yet hot and smoking, a circle of flat stones 
had been laid around and over the body, from which the tumulus 
had been carried up. 



262 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

For a view of each article, the reader can refer to the Frontis-* 
piece engraving, by observing the numbering of each specimen. 
Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, are articles fonnd in the mound at Ma- 
rietta, in 1819. 

No. 1. Back view of the silver ornament for a sword scab- 
bard. 

No. 2. Front view of the same. 

No. 3. Front view of an ornament for a belt, with a silver 
face. 

No. 4. Back view of the same ornament, of copper. 

No. 5. A plumb, or pendant, formed of pieces of copper pound- 
ed together, leaving fissures or openings, which were filled with 
bits of silver ; an implement, as to its shape, resembling the instru- 
ments used by carpenters and masons, now-a-days, to ascertain per- 
pendiculars with, and was doubtless used by these ancients for the 
same purpose. 

No. 6. A stone with seven holes., like a screw plate, fourteen 
inches long, finely polished, and very hard ; this, however, was 
not found in the mound, but in a field near this tumulus. 

Letter A. represents a small keg in its construction, and a tea- 
kettle in the use of which it seems to have been put, which is in- 
dicated by its spout ; and appears to have been made of a compo- 
sition of clay and shells. 

Letter B. represents the idol, before spoken of, on pages 217 
and 218, in three views, a front, side, and back view, 

Letter C. represents the idol, or image of stone, on page 219. 

Letter D. is the stone, or Shalgrumu, described on pages 180, 
181, and 182. 

Letter E. represents the Triune Clip, found on the Cany fork of 
Cumberland river, in an ancient work, about four feet below the 
surface. The drawing is an exact likeness, taken originally by 
Miss Sara Clifford, of Lexington, Kentucky ; it is by some called 
the Triune Idol. 

" The object itself may be thus described. It consists of three 
heads joined together at the back part, near the top, by a stem or 
handle, which rises above the head about three inches. This 
stem is hollow, six inches in circumference at the top, increasing 
in size as it descends. 

The heads are all of the same dimensions, being about four 



AND UISGOVERIES IN THE WEST*. 263 

inches from the top to the chin. The face, at the eyes, is three 
inches broad, decreasing in breadth, all the way to the chin. All 
the strong marks of the Tartar countenance are distinctly preserved 
and expressed with so much skill, that even a modern artist might 
be proud of the performance. The countenances are all different 
from each other, and denote one old person, and two younger ones. 
The face of the oldest is painted around the eyes with yellow, 
shaded with a streak of the same color, begining from the top of 
the ear, running in a semicircular form, to the ear on the other side 
of the head. Another painted line begins at the lower part of the 
eye, and runs down before each ear, about one inch. — See the right 
hand figure on the cup, or image. 

The face engraved alone, is the back view, and represents a per- 
son of a grave countenance, but much younger than the preceding 
one, painted very differently, and of a different color. A streak of 
reddish brown surrounds each eye. Another line of the same col- 
or, beginning at the top of one ear, passes under the chin, and ends 
at the top of the other ear. The ears also, are slightly tinged with 
the same color. 

The third figure, in its characteristical features, resembles, the 
others, representing one of the Tartar family. The whole of the 
face is slightly tinged with vermilion, or some paint resembling it. 
Each cheek has a spot on it, of the size of a quarter of a dollar, 
brightly tinged with the same paint. On the chin is a similar spot. 
One circumstance worthy of remark, is, that though these colors 
must have been exposed to the damp earth for many centuries, 
they have, notwithstanding, preserved every shade in all its bril- 
liancy. 

This Triune vessel stands upon three necks, which are about an 
inch and a half in length. The whole is composed of a fine clay, 
of a light umber color, which has been rendered hard by the ac- 
tion of fire. The heads are hollow, and the vessel is of capacity 
to hold about one quart. 

Does not this cup represent the three gods of India — Brahma, 
Vishnoo, and Siva ? Let the reader look at the plate representing 
this vessel, and consult the u Asiatic Researches," by Sir William 
Jones \ let him also read Buchanan's " Star in the East," and ac- 
counts there found, of the idolatry of the Hindoos, and he cannot 
fail to see in this idol, one proof at least, that the people who 



264 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

raised our ancient works were idolaters ; and, that some of them 
worshipped gods resembling the three principal deities of India. 
What tends to strengthen this inference, is, that nine murex shells, 
the same as described by Sir William Jones, in his Asiatic Re- 
searches, and by Symmes, in his Embassy to Ava, have been found 
within twenty miles of Lexington, Kentucky, in an ancient work. 

The murex shell, is a sea shell fish, out of which the ancients 
procured the famous Tyrian purple dye, which was the color of the 
royal robes of kings, so celebrated in ancient times. Their com- 
ponent parts remained unchanged, and they were every way in an 
excellent state of preservation. These shells, so rare in India, are 
highly esteemed, and consecrated to their god, Mahadeva, whose 
character is the same with the Neptune, of Greece and Rome. 
This shell, among the Hindoos, is the musical instrument of their 
Tritons; (sea gods, or trumpeters of Neptune.) Those, of the 
kind discovered as above, are deposited in the Museum, at Lex- 
ington. The foot of the Siamese god, Gudma, or Boodh, is re- 
presented by a sculptured statute, in Ava, of six feet in length, 
and the toes of this god, are carved, each to represent a shell of 
the Murex. 

These shells have been found in many mounds which have been 
opened in every part of this country ; and this is a proof that a 
considerable value was set upon them by their owners. From 
these discoveiies it is evident, that the people who built the an- 
cient works of the west, were idolaters ; it is also inferred from 
the age of the world in which they lived ; history, sacred and pro- 
fane, affords the fact, that all nations, except the Jews, were idola- 
ters at the same time and age. 

Medals, representing the sun with its rays of light, have been 
found in the mounds, made of a very fine clay, and colored in the 
composition, before it was hardened by heat, from which it is in- 
ferred they worshipped the sun. It is also supposed, that they 
worshipped the moon, both from their semicircular works, which 
represent the new moon ; and also from the discovery of copper 
medals, round like the moon in its full, being smooth, without any 
rays of light, like those which represent the sun. The worship of 
the sun, moon, and stars, was the worship of many nations, in the 
earliest ages, not only soon after the flood, but all along, cotempo- 
rary with the existence of the Jews as a nation, and also succeed- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 265 

itig the Christian era, and till the present time, as among the pagan 
Mexicans. 

Nos. 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, represent the shapes of the stone 
axes, pestle, and other articles spoken of a few pages back. — See 
the Plate. 

As it respects the scientific acquirements of the builders of the 
works in the west, now in ruins, Mr. Atwater says, " when tho- 
roughly examined, have furnished matter of admiration to all intel- 
ligent persons, who have attended to the subject. Nearly all the 
lines of ancient works found in the whole country, where the from 
of the ground admits of it, are right ones, pointing to the four car- 
dinal points. Where there are mounds enclosed, the gateways are 
most frequently on the east side of the works, towards the rising 
Sun. Where the 'situation admits of it, in their military works, 
the openings are generally towards one or more of the cardinal 
points. From which it is supposed they must have had some know- 
ledge of astronomy, or their structures would not, it is imagined, 
have been thus arranged. From these circumstances also, we draw 
the conclusion, that the first inhabitants of America, emigrated from 
Asia, at a period coeval with that of Babylon, for here it was that 
astronomical calculations were first made, 2234 years before Christ. 
" These things could never have so happened, with such invari- 
able exactness, in almost all cases, without design. " On the 
whole," says Atwater, " I am convinced from an attention to many 
hundreds of these works, in every part of the west which I have 
visited, that their authors had a knowledge of astronomy." He 
strengthens his opinions as follows: u The pastoral life, which men 
followed in the early ages, was certainly very favorable to the at- 
tainment of such a knowledge. Dwelling in tents, or in the open 
air, with the heavenly bodies in full view, and much more liable 
to suffer from changes in the weather, than persons dwelling in 
comfortable habitations, they would, of course, direct their atten- 
tion to the prognostics of approaching heat or cold, stormy or pleas- 
ant weather. Our own sailors are an example in point. Let a 
person, even wholly unaccustomed to the seas, be wafted for a few 
weeks by the winds and waves, he will become all ear to every 
breeze, all eye to every part of the heavens. Thus, in the earliest 
ages of mankind, astronomy was attended to, partly from necessity ; 
hence, a knowledge of this science was early diffused among men, 

34 



266 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

the proofs of which are seen in their works, not only heie, but in 
every part of the globe. It was reserved, however, for the 
geniuses of modern times 3 to make the most astonishing discoveries 
in this science, aided by a knowledge of figures, and an acquaint- 
ance with the telescope." 

Our ancient works continued into Mexico, increasing in size and 
grandeur, preserving the same forms, and appear to have been put 
to the same uses. The form of our works is round, square, trian- 
gular, semicircular, and octangular agreeing, in all these respects, 
with those in Mexico. The first works built by the Mexicans, 
were mostly of earth, and not much superior to the common ones 
on the Mississippi." The same may be said of the works of this 
sort over the whole earth, which is the evidence that all alike be- 
long to the first efforts of men, in the very first ages after the flood. 

" But afterwards temples were erected on the elevated squares, 
circles, &c, but were still like ours, surrounded by walls of earth. 
These sacred places, in Mexico, were called ■ " teocalli" which in 
the vernacular tongue of the most ancient tribe of Mexicans, signi- 
fies " mansions of the gods" They included within their sacred 
walls, gardens, fountains, habitations of priests, temples, altars, and 
magazines of arms. This circumstance may account for many 
things which have excited some surprise among those who have 
hastily visited the works on Paint Creek, at Portsmouth, Marietta, 
Gircleville, Newark, &c 

It is doubted by many to what use these works were put ; whe- 
ther they were used as forts, camps, cemeteries, altars, and tem- 
ples ; whereas they contained all these either within their walls, or 
were immediately connected with them. Many persons cannot 
imagine why the works, at the places above mentioned, were so ex- 
tensively complicated, differing so much in form, size, and eleva- 
tion, among themselves." But the solution is, undoubtedly, " they 
contained within them, altars, temples cemeteries, habitations of 
priests, gardens, wells, fountains, places devoted to sacred purposes, 
of various kinds, and the whole of their warlike munitions, laid 
up in arsenals. These works were calculated for defence, and 
were resorted to in cases of the last necessity, where they fought 
with desperation. We are warranted in this conclusion, by know- 
ing that these works are exactly similar to the most ancient now to 
be seen in Mexico, connected with the fact, that the Mexican 
works did contain within them«W that we have stated. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- 267 



GREAT SIZE OF SOME OF THE MEXICAN MOUNDS, 

The word Teocalli, Humboldt says, is derived from the name of 
one of the gods to which they were dedicated, Tezcatlipoca, the 
Brahma of the Mexicans. The pyramid of Cholula, was seated 
on a tumulus with four stages, and was dedicated to Quetzalcotl, 
one the mysterious characters that appeared among the ancient 
Mexicans, said to have been a white and bearded man, before spo- 
ken of in this work. 

The Teocalli, or pyramid of Cholula, is sixty rods in circumfe- 
rence, and ten rods high. In the vale of Mexico^ twenty-four miles 
northeast from the capital, in a plain that bears the name of Mi- 
coat], or the path of the dead, is a group of pyramids, of several 
nundred in number, generally about thirty feet high. 

In the midst of these are two large pyramids, one dedicated to 
the Sun, the other to the Moon. The sun pyramid is ten rods thir- 
teen feet high, aud its length nearly thirty-five rods, and of a pro- 
portionable thickness, but is not a circle ; that of the moon is eight 
rods and eleven feet in perpendicular height, but its base is not 
specified by Humboldt ; from whose Researches in South America, 
we have derived this information. 

The small pyramids, which surrounded the two dedicated to the 
sun and moon, are divided by spacious streets, runing exactly north 
and south, east and west, intersecting each other at right angles, 
forming one grand palace of worship, and of the dead. It is the 
tradition of the Mexicans, that in the small tumuli, or pyramids, 
were, buried the chiefs of their tribes. We also here ascertain that 
the builders of these two vast houses of the sun and moon, had in- 
deed a knowledge of the cardinal points of the compass ; for this 
arrangement could never have taken place from mere chance, it 
must have been the result of calculation, with the north star, or 
pole, in view. On the top of those theocallis, were two colossal 
statues of the sun and moon, made of stone, and covered with 
plates of gold, of which they were stripped by the soldiers of Cor- 
tez. Such were some of the pyramids of Egypt, with colossal 
statues. 



268 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

This tremendous work is much similar to one found in Egypt,, 
called the " Cheops and the Mycerinus;" round about which were 
eight small pyramids ; only the Egyptian work is much less than 
the Mexican one, yet their fashion is the same. 



PREDILECTION OF THE ANCIENTS TO PYRAMIDS. 

In those early ages of mankind, it is evident there existed an un- 
accountable ambition among the nations, seemingly to outdo each 
other in the height of their pyramids ; for Humboldt mentions the 
pyramids of Porsenna, as related by Varro, styled the most learned 
of the Romans, who flourished about the time of Christ ; and says 
there were, at this place, four pyramids, eighty meters in height, 
which is a fraction more than fifteen rods perpendicular altitude ; 
the meter is a French measure, consisting of 3 feet 3 inches. 

Not many years since was discovered, by some Spanish hunters, 
on descending the Cordilleras, towards the Gulf Mexico, in the 
thick forest, the pyramid of Papantla. The form of this teocalli, 
or pyramid which had seven stories, is more tapering than any 
other monument of this kind, yet discovered, but its height is not 
remarkable ; being but fifty-seven feet, its base but twenty-five 
feet on each side. However, it is remarkable on oue account ; it 
is built entirely of hewn stones, of an extraordinary size, and very 
beautifully shaped. Three stair-cases lead to its top ; the steps of 
which were decorated with hieroglyphical sculpture and small 
niches, arranged with great symmetry. The number of these 
niches seems to allude to the three hundred and eighteen simple 
and compound signs of the days of their civil calendar. If so, this 
monument was erected for astronomical purposes ; besides, here is 
evidence of the use of metalic tools in the preparation and build- 
ing of this temple. 

In those mounds were sometimes hidden the treasures of kings 
and chiefs, placed there in times of war and danger. Such was 
found to be the fact on opening the tomb of a Peruvian prince, 
when was discovered a mass of pure gold, amounting to four mil- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 269 

lions, six hundred and eighty-seven thousand five hundred dollars. 
— Humboldi 's Researches, vol. 1 p. 92. 

The pyramids of the Ohio, are, in several instances, built in the 
same manner, with several stages, on the tops of which were, un- 
questionably, temples of wood, in the day of their glory, when 
their builders swarmed in populous ten thousands, over all the un- 
bounded west ; but time h^s destroyed all fabrics of this sort, while 
the mounds on which they stood, in giddy grandeur, remain, but 
stripped of the habiliments of architecture, and the embellishments 
of art. 

There is, in South America, to the southeast of the city of Cuer- 
nuvaca, on the west declivity of the Cordillera of Anahuac, an iso- 
lated hill, which, together with the pyramid, raised on its top by 
the ancients of that country, amounts to thirty-five rods ten feet, 
in perpendicular height. The ancient tower of Babel, around 
which the city Babylon was afterwards built, was six hundred feet 
high, which is but thirty feet higher than the hill we are describ- 
ing ; but the base of Babel is a mere nothing, compared with the 
gigantic work of Anahuac, being but six hundred feet square, which 
is one hundred and fifty rods, or nearly so ; while the hill in South 
America, partly natural and partly artificial, is at its base 12,0G6 
feet ; this thrown into rods, gives seven hundred and fifty-four, 
and into miles, is two and a quarter, and a half quarter, wanting 
eight rods, which is five times greater than that of Babel. 

The hill of Xochicalco is a mass of rocks, to which the hand of 
man has given a regular conic form, and which is divided into five 
stories or terraces, each of which is covered with masonry. These 
terraces are nearly sixty feet in perpendicular height, one above 
the other 3 besides the artificial mound added at the top, making its 
height nearly that of Babel ; besides, the whole is surrounded with 
a deep broad ditch, more than five times the circumference of that 
Babylonian tower. 

Humboldt says, we ought not to be surprised at the magnitude 
and dimensions of this work, as on the ridge of the Cordilleras of 
Peru, and on the other heights, almost equal to that of Teneiiffe, 
he had seen monuments still more considerable. Also in Canada, 
he had seen lines of defence, and entrenchments of extraordinary 
length, the work of some people belonging to the early ages of 
time. Those in Canada, however, we imagine to be of the Danish 



270 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

origin, and to have been erected in the 9th, 10th, and 11th centu- 
ries of the Christian era, for reasons hereafter shown. 

If then, as Humboldt states, there were found on the plains of 
Canada, lines of defence of extraordinary length, it affords an argu- 
ment that the Norwegians and other northern nations, may not only 
have made settlements there, but became a kingdom, a body poli- 
tic and military and waged long and dreadful wars with opposing 
powers, who were unquestionably the Indians, who had already 
driven away the more ancient inhabitants of America, the authors 
of the western works, mounds and tumuli. But respecting the tre- 
mendous monument of art, found by the hunters, which we have 
described above, it is said that travellers, who have attentively ex- 
amined it, were struck with the polish and cut of the stones, the 
care with which they have been arranged, without cement between 
the joints, and the execution of the sculpture, with which the 
stones are decorated ; each figure occupying several stones, and 
from the outlines of the animals which they represent, not being 
broken by the joints of the stones, it is conjectured the engravings 
were made after the edifice was finished. But the animals and 
men sculptured on the stone of this pyramid, afford a strong evi- 
dence of the country from which the ancestors of those who built 
it came. There are crocodiles spouting water, and men sitting 
even cross legged, according to the custom of several Asiatic na- 
tions ; finally, the whole of the American works, of the most 
ancient class, from Canada to the extreme parts of South Ame- - 
irca, resemble those which are daily discovered in the eastern 
parts of Asia. 

From the deep ditch, with which the greater monument we 
have been describing, is surrounded, the covering of the terraces, 
the great number of subterranean apartments, cut into the solid 
rock, on its northern side, the wall that defends the approach to 
its base, ---it is believed to heive been a military work of great 
strength. 

The natives, even to this day, designate the ruins of this pyramid 
by the name that signifies a citadel or castle. The pyramid of 
Mexitli, found in another part of Mexico, called the great temple 
of Tenochtitlan, contained an arsenal, and during the war of the 
Spaniards with the devoted Mexicans, was alternately resorted to 
as a fort of defence, and a place of security. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 271 

Nothing, of the warlike character, could exceed the grandeur of 
a fight maintained from the base to the summit of one of these tre- 
mendous teocallis, or pyramids. We may suppose the foe already 
gathered from their more scattered work of ruin, and circling, with 
yells of fury, the immediate precincts of the mound, while the 
rushing multitude fly from their burning habitations, toward this 
last resort. The goal is gained ; the first who reach it, ascend 
to its top ; rank after rank succeed, till, in frightful circles of fero- 
cious warriors, the whole pyramid is but one living mass of fury. 
Now the enemy come pouring round as a deluge, and begirt this 
final refuge of the wailing populace ; while warrior facing warrior, 
each moment fells its thousands by the noiseless death stab of the 
dirk of copper ; while from the ranks above the silent, but venge- 
ful arrow does its work of death. Here, from the strong arm and 
well practised sling, stones, with furious whizzing, through the air, 
cover in showers the distant squadron with dismay. Circle after 
circle, at the base, both of invader and invaded, fall together in 
glorious ruin. Now the top where waved such signals of defiance 
as rude nations could invent, becomes thinned of its defenders; 
who, pressing downward, as the lower ranges are cut in pieces, 
renew the fight. Now the farthest circle of the enemy nears the 
fatal centre ; now the destinies of conflicting nations draw nigh ; 
those of the pyramid have thrown their last stone ; the quiver is 
emptied of its arrows ; the last spear of flint and battle-axe, have 
fled, with well-directed aim, amid the throng. 

Surrender, captivity, slavery, and death, wind up the account ; 
a tribe becomes extinct, whose bones, when heaped together, 
make a new pyramid. Such, doubtless, is the origin of many 
of the frightful heaps of human bones found scattered over all the 
west. 

We learn from Scripture, that in the earliest times, the temples 
of Asia — such as that of Baal-Berith, at Shechim, in Canaan — were 
not only buildings consecrated to worship, but also intrenchments, 
in which the inhabitants of a city defended themselves in times of 
war. The same may be said of the Grecian temples ; for the wall 
which formed the parabolis, alone afforded an assylum to the be- 
sieged. — Humboldt. 

The ancient Carthegenians, the sworn and eternal enemies of 
the Romans, practised raising mounds of earth over their glorious 



272 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

dead. Hannibal, their famous general, who for a while so success- 
fully combated the Roman armies, almost in sight of the imperial 
city, was thus honored. 

At the place where he fell by his own hand, having poisoned 
himself to escape the scorn of his victors, was raised a lofty mound 
of earth over his remains, exactly like the one which marks the 
place where sleeps the ashes of Achilles on the plains of Troy. 

The mound of Hannibal was erected 182 years before Christ. 
If therefore, the Carthegenians, the Greeks, the Romans, the more 
ancient Phoenicians, the Egyptians, the Jews, and all the first na- 
tions immediately succeeding the flood, were found in this prac- 
tice ; is it not fairly inferred, that branches or colonies of these 
same nations and races of men, were also the authors of many 
of the mounds of America found scattered over its mighty re- 
gions. 

Clavigero, who was well acquainted with the history of the 
Mexicans and Peruvians, professes to point out the places from 
whence they emigrated, several places they stopped at, and the 
times which they continued to sojourn there. This, we under- 
stand, is the same as related before in this work, written by Hum- 
boldt, and describes the emigration of the Azteca tribes, from 
Aztalan, or the western states, to Mexico, which commenced to 
take place not long after the conquest of Judea by Titus. Clavi- 
gero supposes these nations of Aztalan came from Asia, across the 
Pacific, from the region along the coasts of the Chinese sea and 
islands, reaching America not far from Bhering's Straits, and from 
thence followed along the coast of the Pacific, till they came, in 
process of time, to a milder climate. 

To this Mr. Atwater adds, and suppose them to have from 
thence worked across the continent, as well as in other direc- 
tions, as far as the regions of the western states and territories, 
where they may have lived thousands of years, as their works 
denote. 

Others may have found their way into South America, by cross- 
ing the Pacific and Atlantic at different times and places. Green- 
landers have been driven upon the coast of Iceland, which is a dis- 
tance of at least a thousand miles. Thus transported by winds, 
waves and stress of weather, man has found all the islands of all 
the seas. In the same way may have arriyed persons from Africa, 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 273 

Europe, — Australasians, Chinese, Hindoos, Japanese, Birmans, 
Kamschadales, and Tartars, on the coasts of America in the first 
ages after the flood. 



VOYAGES AND SHIPPING OF THE MONGOL TARTARS, AND 
SETTLEMENTS ON THE WESTERN COAST OF AMERICA. 

The whole western coast of the American continent, from oppo- 
site the Japan islands, in latitude from 40 to 50 degrees north, down 
to Patagonia, in latitude 40 south — a distance of more than six 
thousand miles—it would appear, was once populous with such na- 
tions as peopled the Japan islands, and the eastern shores of Asia, 
Chinese Tartary, China, and Farther India ; who also peopled the 
islands between, with thek various nations. 

A cross made of fine marble, beautifully polished, about three 
feet high, and three fingers in width and thickness, was found in 
an Indian temple. This, it appears, was kept as sacred, in a pa- 
lace of one of the Incas, and held in great veneration by the na- 
tives of South America. When the Spaniards conquered that 
country they enriched this cross with gold jewels, and placed it in 
the cathedral of Cuzco. 

But how came this emblem of Christianity in America ? There 
were in the service of the Mongols, in the 13th century, many 
Nestorians, a sect of Christians. The conqueror of the king of 
Eastern Bengal,was a Christian, which was in 1272, A. D. 

Under this king a part of an expedition was sent to conquer the 
islands of Japan, in large Chinese vessels, and supposed to have 
been commanded by these Christian Nestorians, as officers ; being 
more trust-worthy and more expert in warlike manouvres than the 
Mongol natives. This expedition by some means found their way 
from the Japan Islands, (which are west from North America, in 
north latitude 35 degrees,) to the coast of America in the same 
latitude, and landed at a place called in the Mexican language 
Culcaan, opposite New-California, in north latitude about 35 
degrees. 

35 



274 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

In the year 1273 A. D., Kublai, a Mongol emperor, it appears? 
became master of all China. At that time they were in the pos- 
session of the knowledge of ship building, so that vessels of 
enormous size were constructed by them ; so great as to carry 
more than a thousand men ; being four masted, though not rig= 
ged as vessels n<aw are, yet well adapted to take advantage of the 
winds. 

They were so solidly and conveniently made, as to carry ele- 
phants on their decks. The Peruvians had a tradition that many 
ages before their conquest by the Spaniards, that there landed on 
their coast at St. Helen's Point, vessels manned with giants, having 
no beard and were taller from their knees downward than a man's 
head ; that they had long hair, which hung loose upon their shoul- 
ders, and that their eyes were wide apart, and very big in other 
parts of their bodies. N 

This description is supposed descriptive of the elephants only, 
with their riders blended both in one animal ; as they did in after 
years, when the Spaniards rode on horses, they took them at first 
to be all one animal. 

There remains not a doubt, that the Mongol Tartars found their 
way from China to the west of America in shipping. The voyage 
is not so great as to render it impossible, as that a French vessel in 
the year 1721 sailed from China, and arrived at a place called Valle 
de Nandras, on the coast a in fifty days. 

The Phoenician letters were known among the Mongol nations. 
If, therefore, they found their way to South America, we at once 
account for the Phoenician characters found in caverns, and cut in 
roeks of that country. 

A description of what is supposed a Chinese Mongol town, to 
the west, in latitude 39, in longitude 87, called by themselves, 
when first visited by the Spaniards Talomeco, is exceedingly curi- 
ous, and situated on the bank of a river running into the Pacific 
from the territory now called Oregon, only four degrees south of 
Lake Erie, and in longitude 87, or exactly west of Ohio, in lati- 
tude 39. 

It was well built, and contains five hundred houses ; some of 
which are large and show well at a distance. It was situated on 
the banks of a river. Hernando Soto dined with a cacique named 
Guacbaia, and was entertained with as much civility as exists 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 275 

among polished nations. The suit of servants stood in a row with 
their backs against the wall. This is an eastern fashion. While 
the cacique was at dinner, he happened to sneeze, on which the 
attendants respectfully bowed. This too was an ancient eastern i 
usage. After the repast was finished, the servants all dined in 
another hall. The meat was well cooked, the fish properly roasted 
or broiled. 

They had the knowledge of dressing furs with neatness, and deer 
skins were prepared with softness and delicacy, with which they 
clothed themselves. 

The principal pride and grandeur of this people, however, con- 
sisted in their temple, which stood in the town of Talomeco, which 
was also the sepulchre of their caciques or chiefs. 

The temple was a hundred paces long, which is eighteen rods, 
and forty wide, which is seven rods and eight feet. Its doors were 
wide in proportion to its length. The roof was thatched neatly 
with split twigs, and built sloping to throw off the rain. It was 
thickly decorated with different sized shells, connected together in 
festoons, which shine beautifully in the sun. 

On entering the temple, there are twelve wooden statues of gi- 
gantic size, with menacing and savage faces, the tallest of which 
was eight feet high. They held in their hands, in a striking pos- 
ture, clubs, adorned with copper. Some have copper hatchets, 
edged with flint ; others had bows and arrows, and some held long 
pikes, pointed with copper. 

The Spaniards thought these statues worthy of the ancient 
Romans. On each of the four sides of the temple, there was two 
rows of statues, the size of life ; the upper row of men with arms 
in their hands; the lower row of women. The cornice in the 
temple was ornamented with large shells mingled with pearls, and 
festoons. 

The corpses of these caciques were so well embalmed that there 
was no bad smell ; they were deposited in large wooden coffers, 
well constructed, and placed upon benches two feet from the 
ground. 

In smaller coriers and in baskets, the Spaniards found the clothes 
of the deceased men and women ; and so many pearls, that they 
distributed them among the officers and soldiers by handfulls. The 
prodigious quantity of pearls ; the heaps of colored chamois or goat 



276 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

skins ; clothes of marten and other well dressed furs ; the thick, 
well made targets of twigs, ornamented with pearls ; and other 
things found in this temple and its magazines, which consisted of 
eight halls of equal magnitude, made even the Spaniards who had 
heen in Peru, admire this as the wonder of the new world. 

The remains of cities and towns of an ancient population, exists 
every where on the coast of the Pacific, which agree in fashion 
with the works and ruins found along the Chinese coasts, exactly 
west Jfroffl the western limits of North America, showing beyond 
all dispute, that in ancient times the countries were known to each 
other, and voyages were reciprocally made. 

The style of their shipping was such as to be equal to voyages 
of that distance, and also sufficient to withstand stress of weather, 
even beyond vessels of the present times, on account of their great 
depth of keel and size. 

" The Chinese ships have a single deck, below the space of 
which is divided into a great number of cabins, some times not 
less than sixty, affording accommodations for as many merchants, 
with their servants. 

They have a good helm, some of the larger ships have besides 
the cabin, thirteen bulk-heads, or divisions, in the hold, formed of 
thick planks mortised together. The object of this is to guard 
against springing a leak, if they strike on a rock, or should be 
struck by a whale, which not unfrequently occurs. 

By this plan, if an accident did happen, only one of the division 
could be effected ; the whole vessel was double planked, laid over 
the first planking ; and so large were* some of these vessels as to 
require a crew of three hundred sailors to manage them when at 
sea. — See Marco Polo, Book 3d., chap. 1, and note 1128 — Rankin. 

In the year A. D. 1275, the Tartars, under their general, called 
Moko, undertook the invasion of the Japan empire, which lies 
along adjacent to China, between the western coast of North Ame- 
rica and China, with a fleet of 4000 sail, having on board two 
hundred and forty thousand men. 

But the expedition proved unsuccessful, as it was destroyed by a 
storm, driven and scattered about the Pacific ocean. — Kempfer^s 
History of Japan — Rankin. 

From this we discover the perfect ability of the western nations, 
that is, west of Ameriea, to explore the ocean, as suited their in- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 277 

clinationsj in the earliest ages ; for we are not to suppose the Tar- 
tars had just then, in 1275, come to a knowledge of navigation, 
hut rather, the greatness of this fleet is evidence, that the art had 
arrived to its highest state of perfection. 

But had they a knowledge of the compass ? This is an impor- 
tant enquiry. On this subject we have the following from the pen 
of the most learned antiquarian of the age, C. S. Rafinesque, 
whose writings we have several times alluded to in the course of 
this work. 

This author says, that in the year of the world 1200, or 2800 
years before Christ, or 450 years before the flood, the magnetic 
needle was known and in use, and that under the Emperor Hoang- 
ti, which was about 130 years nearer the time of the flood, reck- 
oning from the creation, ships began to be invented. He even 
gives the names of two ship builders, Kong-ku and Ho-ahu, who, 
by order of the above named Emperor, built boats, at first with 
hollow trees, and furnished them with oars, and were sent to ex- 
plore places where no man had ever been. 

In the year 2037 before Christ, or 307 years after the flood, un- 
der the Hia dynasty, embassies were sent to China from foreign 
countries, beyond sea, who came in ships to pay homage to the 
Hias, or Emperor. 

If a knowledge of the magnet, and its adaptation to navigation, 
was known before the flood, as appears from this writer's remarks, 
who derives this discovery from a perusal of the Chinese histories ; 
it was, of necessity, divulged by Noah to his immediate posterity, 
who it is said, went soon after the confusion of the language at 
Babel, and planted a colony in China, or in that eastern country ; 
as all others of mankind had perished in the flood, consequently 
there were none else to promulge it to but this family. 

Dr. Clarke has given his opinion in his Comment on the Book 
of Job, that the needle was known to the ancients of the east. 
He derives this from certain expressions of Job, 28th chap. 18th 
verse, respecting precious stones, which are : — " No mention shall 
be made of coral pearls : for the price of wisdom is above rubies ." 
That is, it is understood, that the wisdom which aided man to 
make this discovery, and to apply it to the puiposes of navigation, 
on the account of its polarity, is that wisdom which is above the 
price of rubies. 



278 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

a The attractive proprieties of loadstone must have been obser- 
ved from its first discovery ; and there is every reason to believe 
that the magnet and its virtues, were known in the east long before 
they were discoverd in Europe." — Clarke. 

But it may be inquired, if the knowledge of the magnet and its 
application to the great purpose of navigation, and surveying were 
understood in any degree, bow came one branch of the descendants 
of the family of Noah, those who went east from Ararat, to have 
it ; and the others, w T ho went in other directions, to be ignorant of 
it; and had to discover it over again in the course of ages. 

We can answer this, only by noticing, that many arts of the 
ancients of Europe and of Africa are lost ; but how, we cannot 
tell ; but in the same way this art was lost. Wars, convulsions, 
revolutions, sweeping diseases, often change the entire face and state 
of society ; so that if it were even known to all the first genera- 
tion, immediately succeeding the flood, a second generation may 
have lost it, not dwelling in the vicinity of great waters ; having 
no use for such an art, would of necessity loose it, which remained 
lost till about the year A. D. 1300. 

In the year 1197, before Christ, about the time of Job ; a large 
colony from China, under the Yu dynasty was sent to Japan, and 
other western islands, who 'drove out the Om, or black inhabitants, 
the first settlers of those islands, a branch, it appears, of the family 
of Ham y who had found their way across the whole continent 
of Asia, from Ararat, or else had, by sea, coasted along from the 
countries of the equator, their natural home, to those beautiful 
islands. 

From this tract of early settlement, we see the African, as he is 
now designated, as enterprising in the colonizing of new countries, 
as they were in the study of Astrondmy, and of building, and the 
invention of letters, at the time the Egyptians first merge to notice 
on the page of history. And if the Japan islands, a part of the 
earth as far from Ararat, the great starting point of man after the 
flood, as is America, and much farther, was found settled by the 
black race of Ham, why not therefore America. 

The pure negro has been found on some of the islands between 
China and America ; which would seem to indicate that this race 
of people have preceeded even the whites, or at least equalled 
them, in first peopleing the globe after the deluge. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 279 

Rafinesque, the great antiquarian, says, the exact time when the 
<Jhinese first discovered or reached America, is not given in their 
books, but it was known to them, he says, and to the Japanese, 
at a very early period, and called by them Fa Sham, and frequented 
for trade. 

But who were here for them to trade with ? Our answer is ; 
those first inhabitants, the white, the red and the black, the sons 
of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham and Japheth 3 who got on to the 
continent before it was severed from Asia and Africa, in the days 
of Peleg, one or two hundred years after the flood of Noah. 



A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF WESTERN DISCOVERIES. . 

Six miles from Lebanon, on the Little Miami, above the mouth 
of Todd's Fork, are curious remains of ancient works. The form 
of one of the forts is trapezoidal ; the walls are of earth, and gene- 
rally eight or ten feet high; but in one place, where it crosses the 
brow of the hill where it stands, it is eighteen feet high. The 
Little Miami passes by on the west, on the north are deep ravines, 
and on the south and southeast the same ravines continue, making 
it a positiou of great strength. The area of the whole enclosure is 
nearly a hundred acres ; the wall has numerous angles, retreating, 
salient and acute, from which are eighty outlets or gateways. 

From which circumstance we learn that its citizens were very 
great in number, or so many gateways would not have been needed. 
Two mounds are in its neighborhood, from which walls run in dif- 
ferent directions to the adjoining ravines. Round about this work 
are the traces of several roads ; two of them are sixteen feet wide, 
elevated about tkree feet in their centre, and like our turnpikes. 

The Sioux country, on the Wabispinekan, St. Peters, and Yel- 
low rivers, abound with ancient entrenchments, mounds and forti- 
fications. Six miles from St. Louis is a place called the Valley of 
Bones, where the ground is promiscuously strewed with human 
and animal bones; some of the latter are of an enormous size. 



280 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

On the river Huron, thirty miles from Detroit, and about eight 
miles from Lake St. Clair, are a number of small mounds, situated 
on a dry plain or bluff of the river. Sixteen baskets full of human 
bones, of a remarkable size, were discovered in the earth, while 
sinking a cellar on this plain for the missionary. Near the mouth 
of this river, (Huron,) on the east bank, are ancient works, repre- 
senting a fortress, with walls of earth, thrown up similar to those of 
Indiana and Ohio. 

At Belle Fontaine, or Spring Wells, three miles below Detroit 
are three mounds, or tumuli, standing in a direct line, about ten 
rods apart. One of these having been opened, bones, stone axes, 
and arrow heads were found in abundance. Within the distance 
of a quarter of a mile of these, are still to be seen the remains of 
ancient fortifications, a breast work, in some places three and four 
feet high, enclosing several acres of firm ground, in the centre of am 
extensive swamp. 

"In the state of Indiana, Franklin county, near Harrisonvilie, 
on the Whitewater river, eight miles from its mouth, on the north 
side, the traces of an ancient population literally strew the earth in 
every direction. On the bottoms or flats are a great nnmber of 
mounds, very unequal in size. The small ones are from two to 
four feet above the surface, and the growth of timber upon them 
small, not being over an hundred years old, while the others are 
from ten to thirty feet high, with trees growing on them of the lar- 
gest and most aged description." — Brown' 's Western Gazetteer. 

Mr. Brown, the author of the Western Gazetteer, from whose 
work we extract the following, says he obtained the assistance of 
the inhabitants for the purpose of making a thorough examination 
of the internal structure of these mounds. He examined from fif- 
teen to twenty of them, and found them all except one to have 
human bones in ; some filled with hundreds, of all ages, thrown 
promiscuously together, into great heaps. He found several sculls 
leg and thigh bones, which plainly shows that their possessors were 
persons of gigantic stature. 

The teeth of all the subjects he examined were remarkably even, 
and sound, handsomely and firmly planted. The fore teeth were 
very deep, and not so wide as those of the generality of white peo- 
ple. He discovered in one mound, an article of glass, in form re- 



AND DIWOVERIES IN THE WE*T. 281 

sembling the bottom of a tumbler, weighing five ounces ; it was 
concave on both of its sides. 

It is true, that although glass is said not to have been found out 
till 644 of the Christian era, yet it was known to the ancient Ro- 
mans, but was considered an article of too great value to be in com- 
mon use. That the Romans were actually in possession of this 
knowledge, we learn from the discoveries made in the disinterred 
cities of the ancient Romans, Pompeii and Herculaneum, buried 
by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Among the vast dis- 
coveries of temples, dwellings, streets, gardens, paintings, sculp- 
tures, skeletons, with treasures of gold, has been found one bow 
window, lighted with glass of a green tinge or colour. The disco- 
very of this article of glass in the tumuli, is a proof of its being of 
European manufacture, and probably of the' Roman, brought by its 
owner as a valuable jewel in those early times. 

In this mound were found several stone axes, such as are shown 
on the plate, with grooves near the heads to receive a withe, which 
unquestionably served to fasten the helve on, and several pieces of 
earthen ware. Some appeared to be parts of vessels, once holding 
six or eight gallons ; others were obviously fragments of jugs, jars, 
and cups. Some were plain, while others were curiously orna- 
mented with figures of birds and beasts, drawn while the clay, or 
material of which they were made, was soft, before the process of 
glazing was performed. The glazier's art appears to have been 
well understood by the potters who manufactured this aboriginal 
crockery. One of the skulls taken out of a mound at this place, 
was found pierced with a flint arrow, which was still sticking in 
the bone ; it was about six inches long. 

At the bottom of all the' mounds he examined there was found a 
stratum of ashes, from six inches to two feet thick, which rests on 
the original soil. These ashes contain eoals 3 fragments of brands, 
and pieces of calcined or burnt human -bones. It is somewhat sin- 
gular to find that these people both buried and burnt their dead ; 
yet it may be that such as were burnt were prisoners of war, who 
being bound and laid in heaps, were thus .reduced to ashes, by 
heaping over them brush and dry wood. 

Near this place, ( Harrison ville,) on the neighboring hills north- 
east of the town, are a number of the remains of stone houses. 
They were covered with soil, brush, and full grown trees. Mr, * 

36 



282 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Brown cleared away the earth, roots and rubbish from one of then?, 
and found it to have been anciently occupied as a dwelling. It 
was about twelve feet square. The walls had fallen nearly to the 
foundation, having been built with the rough stone of nature, like 
a stone wall. At one end of the building was a regular hearth, on 
which was yet the ashes and coals of the last fire its owners had 
enjoyed ; before which were found the decayed skeletons of eight 
persons, of different ages, from a small child to the heads of the 
family. Their feet were found pointing towards the hearth : and 
they were probably murdered while asleep. 

From the circumstance of the kind of house these people lived 
in, (which is the evidence of their not belonging to the mound in- 
habitants,) we should pronounce them to be a settlement of Welch, 
Scandinavians or Scotch, who had thus wandered to the west, 
from the first settlements made along the Atlantic, and were ex- 
terminated by the common Indians, who had also destroyed or 
driven away the authors of the mounds, many hundred years be- 
fore these Europeans came to this country. 



VARIOUS OPINIONS OF ANTIQUARIANS RESPECTING THE 
ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF AMERIGA. 

But we hasten to a conclusion of this work, by furnishing the 
reader with the opinions of several antiquarians, who stand high in 
the estimation of the lovers of research ; and among these is the 
late celebrated Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell, Professor of Natural His- 
tory. And as we have not room to give at length all that these 
gentlemen have published on this subject, we shall only avail our- 
selves of extracts, such as will show their final judgment as to 
what nations or races of men they were who built the works of 
which we have given an account. 

In the following we have, in extract, the remarks and opinions 
of Dr. Mitchell in his communication to the American Antiquarian 
society, of which he was a member, 1815, as follows : 

" I offer you some observations on a curious piece of American 
antiquity, now in New-York. It is a human body found in one 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 283 

of" the limestone caverns of Kentucky. It is a perfect exsiccation ; 
all the fluids are dried up. The skin, bones, and other firm parts 
are in a state of entire preservation. 

" In exploring a calcareous chamber, in the neighborhood of 
Glasgow, in the west, for saltpetre, several human bodies were 
found, enwrapped carefully in skins and cloths. The outer en- 
velope of the body is a deer skin, dried in the usual way, and per- 
haps softened before its application by rubbing. The next cover- 
ing is a deer skin, the hair of which had been cut away by a sharp 
instrument, resembling a hatter's knife. The remnant of the hair, 
and the gashes in the skin, nearly resemble a sheared pelt of bea- 
ver. The next wrapper is of cloth, made of twine, doubled and 
twisted ; but the threads do not appear to have been formed by 
the wheel, nor the web by the loom. The warp and filling seem 
to have been crossed and knotted by an operation like that of the 
fabrics of the northwest coast, and of the Sandwich islands. The 
innermost tegument is a mantle of cloth like the preceding, but is 
furnished with large brown feathers, arranged and fashioned with 
great art, so as to be capable of guarding the living wearer from wet / 
and cold. The plumage is distinct and entire, and the whole 
bears a near similitude to the feathery cloaks now worn by the na- 
tions of the northwest coast of America. 

, { The body is in a squatting posture, with the right arm reclining 
forward, and its hand encircling the right leg. The left arm 
hangs down by its side. The individual was a male, supposed to 
be not more than fourteen at its death. There is a deep and ex- 
tensive fracture of the scull near the occiput, which probably killed 
him. The skin has sustained but little injury, and is of a dusky 
colour, but the natural hue cannot be decided with exactness from 
its present appearance. The scalp, with small exceptions, is cov- 
ered with reddish hair. The teeth are white and sound. The 
hands and feet, in their shrivelled state, are slender and delicate. 

" It may now," adds Dr. Mitchell, " be expected that I should 
offer some opinion as to the antiquity and race of this singular ex- 
siccation. First, then, I am satisfied that it does not belong to the 
class of white men of which we are members. Nor do I believe 
that it ought to be referred to the bands of Spanish adventurers, 
who, between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries rambled up the 
Mississippi, and along the tributary streams. I am equally obliged 



284 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

to reject the opinion that it belouged to any of the tribes of abo- 
rigines now or lately inhabitiag Kentucky. The mantle of fea- 
thered work and the mantle of twisted threads, so nearly resemble 
the fabrics of the natives of Wakash, and the Pacific islands, that I 
refer this individual to that era of time, and that generation of men 
which preceded the Indians of Green River, and of the place 
where these relics were found." 

In another letter to the Society, of a later date, he requests the 
preservation of certain papers, " as worthy of being recorded in its 
archives, showing the progress of his mind in coming to the great 
conclusion that the three races, Malays, Tartars and Scandinavians, 
contributed to make up the great American population," who were 
the authors of the various works and antiquities found on the con- 
tinent.— Am. Antiquarian, p. 315. 

The fabrics accompanying the Kentucky bodies, resemble, very 
nearly, those which encircled the mummies of Tennessee. On 
comparing the two sets of samples, they were ascertained to be as 
much alike as two pieces of goods of the same kind, made at dif- 
ferent factories of this country.^ 

Other antiquities of the same class have come to light ; speci- 
mens of cloths, and some of the raw materials, all dug out of that 
unparalleled natural excavation, the Kentucky cavern, which is 
found to extend many miles, in different directions, very deep in 
the earth ; has many vast rooms, one in particular, of 1800 feet in 
circumference, and 150 in height. For a very grand description 
of this cave, see Blake's Atlas, 1826, published at New- York, for 
subscribers. 

The articles found in this cave were sent to Dr. Mitchell, of 
the city of New- York, which were accompanied with the following 
note : 

" There will be found in this bundle two moccasins, in the same 
state they were when dug out of the Mammoth cave, about two 
hundred yards within its mouth. Upon examination it will be 
perceived that they are fabiicated out of different materials ; one is 
supposed to be made of a species of flag or lily, which grows in 
the southern parts of Kentucky ; the other of the bark of some 
tree, probably the pappaw. There is a part of what is supposed to 
be a ki?miconecke, or pouch, two meshes of a fishing net, and a 
piece of what is supposed to be the raw material, and of which the 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- 285 

fishing net, pouch and moccasins were made. Also, a bowl, or 
cup, containing about a pint, cut out of wood, found also in the 
cave : and, lately, there has been dug out of it the skeleton of a 
human body, enveloped in a matting similar to that of the pouch. 
This matting is substantially like those of the plain fabric, taken 
from the copperas cave of Tennessee, and the saltpetrous cavern 
near Glasgow, in Kentucky." 

And what is highly remarkable, and worthy the attention of an- 
tiquarians is, that they all have a perfect resemblance to the fabrics 
of the Sandwich, Caroline and the Fegee islands, in the Pacific. 
We know the similitude of the manufactured articles from the fol- 
lowing circumstance. After the termination of the war in the isl- 
and of Toconroba, wherein certain citizens of the United States 
were engaged as principals or allies, many articles of Fegee manu- 
facture were brought to New-Ycrk by the victors. Some of them 
agree almost exactly with the fabrics discovered in Kentucky and 
Tennessee. They bear a ctrict comparison, the marks of a similar 
state of the arts, and point strongly to a sameness of origin in the 
respective people that prepared them. Notwithstanding the dis- 
tance of their several residences, at the present time, it is impossi- 
ble not to look back to the common ancestry of the Malays, who 
formerly possessed the country between the Allegany mountains 
and the Mississippi river, and those who now inhabit the islands 
of the Pacific ocean. 

All these considerations lead to the belief that colonies of Aus- 
tralasians, or Malays, landed in North America, and penetrated 
across the continent, in process of time, to the region lying between 
the great lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. There they resided, and 
constructed the fortifications, mounds, and other ancient structures 
which are the wonder of all who have seen them. 

What has become of them ? They have probably been over- 
come by the more warlike and ferocious hordes that entered our 
hemisphere from the northeast of Asia. These Tartars of the 
higher latitudes have issued from the great hive of nations, and 
desolated, in the course of their migrations, the southern tribes of 
America, as they have done to those of Asia and Europe. The 
greater part of the present American natives are of the Tartar stock, 
the descendants of the hardy warriors who destroyed the weaker 
Malays that preceded them. An individual of their exterminated 



286 _ AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

race now and then rises from the tomb, by which their identity of 
origin is ascertained. 

If the position is correct, that the Australasians, Polynesians and 
the Malays, who are all the same as to origin, peopled a part of 
North America, but were driven away towards the south, by the 
northern Tartars, we learn from whence the Azteca Indians, who 
subdued the native Mexicans, derived their ferocity and treachery 
of character ; — for such are the people who now inhabit those 
islands. 

The following is the character Morse the geographer has given 
them : — " They are restless, fond of navigation, war, plunder, emi- 
grations, colonizing, desperate enterprizes, adventures and gallant- 
ry. They talk incessantly of their honor and their bravery, whilst 
they are universally considered, by those with whom they have 
intercourse, as the most treacherous, ferocious people on the globe ; 
and yet they speak the softest language of Asia." — Universal Ge- 
ography, p. 546. 

In a communication of Samuel L. Mitchell to De Witt Clinton, 
1826, he remarks, that " the parallel between the people of Ame- 
rica and Asia affords this important conclusion ; that on both con- 
tinents the hordes dwelling in higher latitudes have overpowered 
the more civilized though feebler inhabitants of the countries situ- 
ated towards the equator." 

As the Tartars have overrun China, . so the Aztecas subdued 
Mexico ; as the Huns and Alans desolated Italy, so the Chippe- 
was and Iroquois prostrated the populous settlements on both banks 
of the Ohio. The surviving race, in these terrible conflicts be- 
tween the different nations of the ancient native residents of North 
America, is evidently that of the Tartars. The opinion is founded 
upon four considerations. 

1st. The similarity of physiognomy and features. His excellency 
M- Genet, sometime minister plenipotentiary from France to the 
United States, is well acquainted with the faces, hues and figures 
of our Indians, and of the Asiatic Tartars, and is perfectly satis- 
fied of their national resemblance. 

Mons. Cazeaux, consul of France to New- York, has drawn the 
same conclusion, from a careful examination of the man of North 
America and Northern Asia. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 287 

M. Smibert, who had been employed in executing paintings of 
Tartar visages for the Grand Duke of Tuscany, was so struck with 
the similarity of their features to those of the Narragansett Indians, 
that he pronounced them members of the same great family of man- 
kind. This opinion of the Grand Duke's portrait painter, is pre- 
served, with all its circumstances, in the fourteenth volume of the 
Medical Repository. 

I have examined with the utmost care seven or eight Chinese 
sailors, who had assisted in navigating a ship from Macao to New- 
York. The thinness of their beards, the bay complexion, the 
black lank hair, the aspect of the eyes, the contour of the face, and 
in short the general external character, induced every person who 
observed them to remark how nearly they resemble the Mohegans 
and Oneidas of New- York. 

Sidi Mellimelli, the Tunisian envoy to the United States in 
1804, entertained the same opinion on beholding the Cherokees, 
Osages and Miamis, assembled at the city of Washington, during 
his residence there. Their Tartar physiognomy struck him in a 
moment 

2d. The affinity of their languages. The late learned and enter- 
prising Professor Barton took the lead in this inquiry. He collect- 
ed as many words as he could from the languages spoken in Asia 
and America, and concluded, from the numerous coincidences of 
sound and signification, that there must have been a common origin. 

3d. The existence of corresponding customs. I mean to state, at 
present, that of shaving away the hair of the scalp from the fore 
part and sides of the head, so that nothing is left but a tuft on the 
crown. 

The custom of smoking the pipe on solemn occasions, to the four 
cardinal points of the compass, to the heavens and to the earth, is 
reported, upon the most credible authority, to distinguish equallv 
the hordes of the Asiatic Tartars, and the bands of the American 
Sioux, the most dreadful warriors of the west. 

4th. The kindred nature of the Indian dogs of America and the 
Siberian dogs of Asia. The animal that lives with the natives of 
the two continents as a dog, is very different from the tame creature 
of the same name in Europe and America. He is either a different 
species, or a wide variety of the same species. But the identity 
of the American and Asiatic curs is evinced by several considera- 



288 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

tions. Both are mostly white ; they have shaggy coats, sharp no- 
ses, and erect ears. They are voracious, thievish, and, to a con- 
siderable degree untameable. They steal wherever they can, and 
sometimes turn against their masters. They are prone to snarl 
and grin, and they have a howl instead of barking. 

They are employed in both hemispheres for labor ; such as car- 
rying burdens, drawing sledges over the snow, and the like ; being 
yoked and harnessed for the purpose like horses. This coinci- 
dence of our Indian with the Canis Sibericus, is a very important 
fact. The dog, the companion, the friend, or slave of man, in all 
his fortunes and migrations, reflects great light on this subject, and 
the history of nations, and their genealogy. 

" In addition to the considerations already stated in favor of this 
opinion, may be urged the more recent discoveries concerning the 
quadrupeds which inhabit the respective countries. There is con- 
clusive evidence, for example, that the wild sheep of Louisiana and 
California is the Tartarian animal of the same name. Yes, the 
taye-taye of Northwestern America is an animal of the same spe- 
cies with the argali of Northern Asia. Our mountain ram, or big 
horn, is their ovisammon." — Am. Antq. Soc. p. 333. 

But we remarkj this opinion of the learned antiquarian, Professor 
Mitchell, by no means lessens the probability, as is contended by 
many learned men, and also is the popular belief, that notwith- 
standing this Tartar physiognomy of our Indians, that they are, in 
part, but in a mixed relation, descended of the Jews ; or in other 
words, a part of the ten lost tribes of Israel ; and do in reality, in 
many things, imitate the worship of the ancient Israelites. Hav- 
ing taught the same to the Tartars^ after they left Syria, in mass, 
as is related by Esdras, in his second book, chapter thirteen, from 
verse seven to forty-seven inclusive. See also p. 55 of this work, 
and onward. 

But we resume the remarks of Professor Mitchell to Governor 
Clinton, in reference to the authors of the works in the west. 

" The exterminated race, in the savage intercourse between the 
nations of North America, in ancient days, appears clearly to have 
been that of the Malays. The bodies and shrouds and clothing of | 
those individuals have, within a few years, been discovered in the | 
caverns of saltpetre and copperas, within the States of Kentucky j 
and Tennessee. Their entire dried or exsiccated condition, has 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 239 

led intelligent gentlemen, who have seen them, to call them mum- 
mies. 

They are some of the most memorable of the antiquities that 
North America contains. The race, or nation, to which they be- 
longed is extinct; but in preceding ages, occupied the region situ- 
ated between Lakes Ontario and Erie, on the north, and of Mexi- 
co on the south, and bounded eastwardly by the Alleghany moun- 
tains, and westwardly by the Mississippi River. 

That they were similar in their origin and character, to the pre- 
sent inhabitants of the Pacific islands, and of Australasia, is argued 
from various circumstances. 1st: The sameness of texture in the 
plain cloth or matting that enwraps the mummies, and that which 
our navigators bring from Wakash, the Sandwich islands, and the 
Fegees. 2d: The close resemblance there is between the feathery 
mantles brought, now-a-days, from the islands of the South Sea, 
and those wrappers which surround the mummies lately disinterred 
in the western states. The plumes of birds are twisted or tied to 
threads, with peculiar skill, and turn water like the back of a duck. 
3d : Meshes of net regularly knotted and tied, and formed of a 
strong and even twine. 4th: Moccasins, or coverings of the feet, 
manufactured with remarkable ability, from the bark or rind of 
plates, worked into a sort of stout matting. 5th : Pieces of antique 
sculpture, especially of human heads, and of some other forms, 
found where the exterminated tribes had dwelt, resembling 
the carving at Qtaheite, New-Zealand, and other places. 6th : 
Works of defence er fortifications, overspreading the fertile tract of 
country, formerly possessed by these people, who may be supposed 
capable of building works of much greater magnitude than the 
morals, or burial places, and the hippos, or fighting stages, of the 
Society Islands. 7th : As far as observation has gone, a belief, 
that the shape of the skull, and the angle of the face, in the mum- 
mies, (found in the west,) correspond with those of the living 
Malays. 

I reject, therefore, the doctrine taught by the European natural- 
ists, that the man of viestern America differs, in any material point 
from the man of enstern Asia. Had the Robertsons, the BufTons, 
the Raynals, the De Pauwys, and the other speculators upon the 
American character, and the vilifiers of the American name, pro- 
cured the requisite information concerning the hemisphere situated 

37 



290 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

west of us, they would have discovered that the inhabitants of vast 
regions of Asia, to the number of many millions, were of the same 
blood and lineage with the millions of America, whom they affect 
to undervalue and despise. 

But notwithstanding the celebrity, founded on the great erudi- 
tion and critical research of Professor Mitchell, we cannot subscribe 
to this opinion respecting the red-headed mummy now in the New- 
York Museum, found in a saltpetre cave in Kentucky. It is a well 
known fact, that invariably all the nations of the earth, who are of 
the swarthy or black complexion, have black eyes, together with 
black hair, either straight or curled. 

But those nations belonging to the white class, have a great va- 
riety of colour in their eyes ; as blue, light blue, dark blue, gray, 
black, and reddish, with many shades of variations, more than we 
have terms to express. Where this is so, the same variety exists 
respecting the colour of the hair ; black, white, auburn, and red. 
We are sure this is a characteristic of the two classes of mankind, 
the dark and the white. If so, then the Kentucky body, found in 
the cave, is not of Malay origin, but of Scandinavian ; of whom, 
as a nation, it is said that the predominant colour of the hair of the 
head was red. 

And further, we object, that the traits of ancient population found 
in Canada, between Lakes Ontario and Erie, to be of Malay origin, 
but rather of Scandinavian also. Our reason is as follows: It is 
unreasonable to suppose the Malays, Australasian, and Polynesian 
nations of the islands of the Pacific, who were originally from the 
eastern coasts of China, situated in mild climates, should penetrate 
so far north as the countries in Canada, to fix their habitations. 
But it is perfectly natural that the Scandinavian, the Welch, or 
the Scottish clans, all of whom inhabit cold, very cold countries, 
should be delighted with such a climate, as any part of either Up- 
per or Lower Canada. 

And farther, as a reason that the Malay nations never inhabited 
any part of the Canadas, we notice, that in those regions there are 
found no traces of their peculiar skill and labour ascribed to them 
by Professor Mitchell, which are the great mounds of the west. In 
Canada we know not that any have been discovered. But other 
works, of warlike character, abound there in the form of long lines 
of defensive preparations, corresponding with similar works in the 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 291 

north of Europe, and in many places in the State of New-York, 
and in other Atlantic states, as before noticed. On which account, 
we do not hesitate to ascribe the ancient traits of a former civilized 
population, found between Lakes Ontario and Erie, to be of Euro= 
pean, rather than of Malay origin. 



FURTHER REMARKS ON THE SUBJECT OF HUMAN COMPLEX- 

IONS. 

As to the curious subject of the different complexions of man 
" I consider, says Dr. Mitchell, the human family under three di- 
visions. 1st : The tawny man ; comprehending the Tartars, Ma- 
lays, Chinese, the American Indians, of every tribe, Lascars, and 
other people of the same cast and breed. 

u 2d : The white man inhabiting the countries in Asia and Eu- 
rope, situated north of the Mediterranean Sea ; and, in the course 
of his adventures, settling all over the world. Among whom I re- 
ken the Greenlanders, and the Esquimaux nations. 

a 3d : The black man, whose proper residence is in the regions 
south of the Mediterranean, particularly toward the interior of Afri- 
ca. The people of Papua and Van Dieman's Land, seem to be of 
this class." 

" It is generally supposed, and by many able and ingenuous men, 
that external physical causes, and combination of circumstances, 
which they call climate, have wrought all these changes in the hu- 
man form" and complexion. " I do not, however, think them ca= 
pable of explaining the differences which exist among the nations," 
on this principle. " There is an internal physical cause of the 
greatest moment, which has scarcely been mentioned. This is the 
generative influence. If by the act of modelling the constitution 
in the embryo and foetus, a predisposition to gout, madness, scrofula, 
and consumption may be engendered, we may rationally conclude, 
with the sagacious d'Azara, that the procreative power may also 
shape the natures, tinge the skin, and give other peculiarities to the 
form of man." — Ame. Antq.,p. 335. 



292 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

But Mr. Volney, (see his View of America, page 407,) the 
Frenchman, who, it is said, travelled far to the west to see the ex- 
traordinary sight of the man of nature, in his pureness, unsophisti- 
cated by Bible, or priestly influence, says that the sole cause of the 
difference of human complexion, is the rays of the sun and climate ;, 
and that, "soon or late, it will be proved that the blackness of the 
African has no other cause." 

To prove this, he tells us the story of his acquaintance with a fa- 
mous Indian chief, the Little Tortoise ; whose skin, he says was as 
white as his own, where it had not been exposed to the sun. Also 
that when he was among the Turks, he was of the same complex- 
ion with the Turks, except along the upper part of his* forehead, 
where the the turban had screened the skin from the wind. 

He farther adds the story of the coloured man in Virginia, by 
name Henry Morse, who a descendant, in the third generation, of 
Congo parentage, became, in the. course of six or seven years, en- 
tirely white, with long sleek brown hair, like a European. If this 
was so, all we can admit respecting it, is, that it was doubtless a 
disorder of some sort, seated in the skin of his body, of a most for- 
tunate kind, rather that any predetermining principle in the air to 
change him white. 

This author informs us also that a negro child h born white, but 
grows black within four and twenty hours. But we cannot avoid 
thinking his conclusions very singular, when we recollect that in 
the case of himself and Little Tortoise, the chief, that the air or 
climate caused them, otherwise white and fair, to become so brown 
and twany; while, in the case of the negro, Henry Morse, the 
same climate caused him, in a short time, to become exceedingly 
white and fair. 

The child also born white^ of African parents, becoming black, 
in twenty-four hours ; surely this is a powerful climate, if it is the 
sole cause of the colour of the Ethiopean. We cannot subscribe to 
this gentleman's theory, nor to the theory of any of the same way 
of thinking ; for it is well known that the Indian blood, when mix- 
ed with the white, is equally inveterate 3 if not more so, to become 
eradicated by a course of time ; the sly Indian looking out, here 
and there, for many generations. 

This idea of the three original complexions, black, twany, and 
white, we have supposed was realized in the person of Noah's 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 293 

three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth ; and although Mr. Mitchell 
has not fixed on a starting place, he has, nevertheless, admitted the 
principle, and has referred the cause of complexion and shape to 
the procreative and generative act, excluding, totally, any influence 
which climate or food may be supposed to have, as has been con- 
tended by many ; which, so far as we are able to understand his 
meaning, is referring the complexions of the human race immedi- 
ately to the arbitrary act of God. To this doctrine we most cor- 
dially subscribe, because it is so simple and natural, the very way 
in which the great Creator works. First fixing the principles of 
nature, as gravitation and motion, which keep the worlds in their 
courses. Were it not for these, all would stand still, and nature 
would die. Fire, in its endless variations, breathes through all 
matter, expands the leaves of all forests, and adorns them with all 
flowers, gives motion to the air, which, in that motion, is called the 
winds of heaven. 

Fire gives liquescency to the waters of the globe ; were it not 
for this, all fluids that now move over the earth in rivers, brooks, 
springs, or oceans, or passes by subterranean channels through the 
earth, or circulates in the pores of trees and herbage, with the wa- 
tery fluids of all animated life, would stand still, would congeal, 
would freeze to one universal mass of death. 

Also, in the secret embryo of earth's productions, as in all vege- 
tation, all animals, and all human beings, is fixed the principle of 
variety. Were it not for this, what vast confusion would ensue. 
If all human beings looked alike, and all human voices sounded 
alike, there would be an end to society, to social order, to the dis- 
tinctions between friend and foe, relatives and strangers ; conver- 
sation would be misapplied, identity at an end, subjects of investi- 
gation and research, arts and science, could have no objects to fix 
upon ; such a state of things would be a fearful retrograde toward 
a state of insensibility and non-existence. 

And is it not also as evident that God has fixed, as well the se- 
cret principle which produces complexion, as it appears in an un- 
mixed state in the human subject, as that he has the other princi- 
ples just rehearsed, and equally as abitrarily. Vegetation mixes, 
and in this way gives varieties in form, colour and flavor, not 
strictly original. Also the original complexions in their pure state, 
of black, tawny and white, hare also by mixtures produced their 



294 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

varieties , but at the outset, in the embryo, there must be a first 
pedisposing principle to each of these complexions, fixed on a more 
permanent basis than that of food and climate ; or else food and 
climate, after these had made a white race of men, or a tawny 
race, black, might be expected in due time, if removed to a climate 
favoring, to chauge them all back again, as at first ; but this is con- 
trary to all experience on the subject, in all ages and climates of 
the earth. Therefore we fix on the idea of a first principle, placed 
in the generative powers of the sons of Noah, from whom their se- 
veral progenies derived the black, the red or tawny, and the white, 
in all the simplicity and beauty of natural operations. 



FURTHER REMARKS RESPECTING HUMAN COMPLEXION WITH 
OTHER INTERESTING SUBJECTS. 

In another communication, which in part was on the same sub- 
ject, though addressed to the secretary of the American Antiqua- 
rian society, Dr. Mitchell, says, " In that memoir (alluding to the 
one addressed to De Witt Clinton,) I maintained the doctrine that 
there were but three original varieties of the human race, the taw- 
ny man, the white man, and the black ; a division which I am 
pleased to observe, the incomparable author of the Animal King- 
dom has adopted, in France. The former of these seems to have 
occupied, in the earliest days, the plain watered by the Euphrates 
and the Tigris, while the white Arab, as he has sometimes been 
called, was found in the regions north of the Mediterranean sea, 
and the sable Arab, or negro, inhabited to the south of that expanse 
of water. 

Of the brown, or tawny variety, me the eastern Asiatics, and 
western Americans, divisible into two great stocks, or genealogies ; 
first, those in high latitudes, whom I call Tartars; and, second, 
those who inhabit low or southern latitudes, whom I consider as 
Malays. I am convinced that terms, Tartar and Malay, for the 
present purposes of reasoning, are equally applicable to the two 
great continent* ; and that, with the exception of the negro colonies 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 295 

in Papua, and a few other places, the islanders in the Pacific are 
Malays. 

My observations led me, several years ago, to the conclusion that 
the two great continents, Asia and America, were peopled by simi- 
lar races of men ; and that America, as well as Asia, had its Tar- 
tars in the north, and its Malays in the south. America has had 
her Scythians, her Alans, and her Huns ; but there has been no 
historian to record their formidable migrations, and their barbarous 
achievements : how little of past events do we know. 

Since the first publication of my sentiments on this subject, at 
home, they have been published at several places abroad. Mr. E. 
Salverte, editor of the Bibliotheque Universelle, has printed them 
at Geneva, in Switzerland, with a learned and elaborate comment, 
The Monthly Magazine of London, contains an epitome of the 
same. 

The comparison of the language spoken by these Asiatic and 
American nations, colonies and tribes, respectively, was begun by 
our learned fellow citizen, the late Dr. B. S. Barton. The work 
has been continued by the Adelangs and Vater, distinguished phi- 
lologists of Germany. Their profound inquiry into the structure of 
language and the elements of speech, embraces a more correct and 
condensed body of information concerning the original tongues of 
the two Americas, than was ever compiled and arranged before. 
Their Mithridates, a book on languages, surpasses all similar per- 
formances that have ever been achieved by man. 

One of my intelligent correspondents, who has surveyed with 
his own eyes the region watered by the Ohio, wrote me very lately 
a letter cantaining the following paragraph : 

"I have adopted your theory respecting the Malays, Polynesians 
and Alleghanians. This last nation, so called by the Lenni-lenapiy 
or primitive stock of our hunting Indians, was that which inhabited 
the United States, before the Tartar tribes came and destroyed 
them, and who erected the mounds, works, fortifications, and tern™ 
pies of the western country. This historical fact is now proved 
beyond a doubt, by the traditions of the Lenni-ienapi Indian, pub- 
lished by Heckewelder, in the work issued by the Philosophical 
Society of Philadelphia. I may add, that Mr. Clifford, of Lexing- 
ton, Kentucky, has proved another identity between the Allegha- 
nians and Mexicans, by ascertaining that many supposed fortifica- 



296 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

tions were temples ; particularly that of Circleville, in Ohio, where 
human sacrifices were one of their rites. He has discovered their 
similarity with the ancient Mexican temples, described by Hum- 
boldt, and has examined the bones of victims in heaps, the shells 
used in sacred rites, as in India, and the idol of baked clay, con- 
sisting of three heads." 

This opinion of human sacrifices was fully confirmed by the tes- 
timony of Mr. Manuel Liea, during the summer of 1818. He, on 
his return from the trading posts on the Upper Missouri, informed 
his fellow citizens at St. Louis, that the Wolf tribe of the Pawnee 
Indians yet followed the custom of immolating human victims. 
He purchased a Spanish prisoner, a boy about ten years old, whom 
they intended to offer as a sacrifice to the Great Star ; and they 
did put to death, by transfixing on a sharp pole, as an offering to 
the object of their adoration, the child of a Paddo woman, who, 
being a captive herself, and devoted to that sanguinary and horri- 
ble death, made her escape on horseback, leaving her new born 
offspring behind. 

The triad, or trinity of heads, (see the plate,) instantly brings to 
mind a similar article figured by the Indians of Asia, and described 
by Mr. Maurice in his Oriental Researches. 

I received, a short time since, directly from Mexico, several 
pieces of cloth, painted in the manner that historians have often 
represented. I find the material in not a single instance to be cot- 
ton, as has been usually affirmed- There is not a thread indicating 
the use of the spinning wheel, nor an intertexture showing that the 
loom or shuttle was employed. In strictness, therefore, there is 
neither cotton nor cloth in the manufacture. The fabrics, on the 
contrary, are uniformly composed of pounded bark, probably of the 
mulberry tree a and resembles the bark cloths prepared to this day, 
in the Friendly and Society Islands, in the Pacific Ocean, as nearly 
as one piece of linen, or one blanket of wool resembles another. 

I derive this conclusion from a comparison of the several sorts of 
goods. They have been examined together by several excellent 
judges. For, at a meeting of the New- York Literary and Philo- 
sophical society, in February, 1819, 1 laid these specimens of bark 
cloth, with their respective colorings and paintings, from Mexico, 
Otaheite and Tongataboo, upon the table, for the examination of 
the members. All were satisfied that there was a most striking 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- 297 

multitude among the several articles. Not only the fabric but the 
colors, and the materials of which they apparently consisted, as 
well as the probable manner of putting them on, seemed to me 
strong proofs of the sameness of origin, in the different tribes of a 
people working in the same way, and retaining a sameness in their 
arts of making a thing, which answers the purpose of paper, of 
cloth and a material for writing and painting upon. 

Soon after the arrival of these rolls from New-Spain, filled with 
hieroglyphics, and imitative characters, I received a visit from 
three natives of South America, born at St. Bias, just beyond the 
isthmus of Darien, near the equator. They were of the Malay 
race, by their physiognomy, form, and general appearance. Their 
dark brown skins, their thin beards, the long black, straight hair 
of their heads, their small hands and feet, and their delicate frame 
of body, all concur to mark their near resemblance to the Austra- 
lasians ; while the want of high cheek bones, and little eyes, 
placed wide apart, distinguished them sufficiently from the Tartars. 
Other similtudes exist. The history of M. de la Salle's last ex- 
pedition, and discoveries in Noth America, as contained in the sec- 
ond volume of his Travels. "After travelling over plains, and 
sometimes across torrents, we arrived in the midst of a very extra- 
ordinary nation, called the Biscatonges, to whom we gave the name 
of weepers, in regard that upon the first approach of strangers, all 
these people, men as well as women, usually fell a weeping most 
bitterly. 

That which is yet more remarkable, and perhaps very reason- 
able in that custom, is that they weep much more at the birth of 
their children, than at their death ; because the latter is esteemed 
only by them as it were a journey or voyage, from whence they 
may return after the expiration of a certain time ; but they look 
upon their nativity as an inlet into an ocean of dangers aad mis- 
fortunes. Compare this with a passage in the Terpsichore of He- 
rodotus, who flourished about 450 years before Christ, chap. 4th, 
where, in describing the Thracians, he observes, " that the Trausi 
have a general uniformity with the rest of the Thracians, (a branch 
©f the most ancient Greeks,) except what relates to the birth of 
their children, and burial of their dead. On the birth of a child 
it is placed in the midst of a circle of its relations, who lament 
aloud the evils which, as a human being, he must necessarily un- 

38 



298 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

dergo all of which supposed evils, they particularly enumerate 
to the child, though it understand it not." — Beloeh translation. 

To find a custom amoDg one of the Indian nations, in America, 
which so strikingly agrees with that of the Thracian, a branch of 
the most ancient Greek people, who existed many hundred years 
before Christ, is very extraordinary, and would seem to justify a 
belief that we have the descendants of the Greeks in our western 
forests ; which also argues that the ancestors of the tribe having 
this curious custom, came early to America, or they could not have 
so perfectly retained this practice, in their wanderings over Asia, 
who would have inevitably lost their ancient manners, by amalga- 
mations. We have before shown, in this work, that Greeks visited 
South America, in the time of Alexander the -Great, who for aught 
that can be objected, may have left a colony, and the Biscatongues 
may be their descendants, 

" There is an opinion among the Seneca nation of the Iroquois 
confederacy, to this day, that eclipses of the sun and moon are cau- 
sed by a Manitau, or bad Spirit, who mischievously intercepts the 
light intended to be shed upon the earth and its inhabitants. Upon 
such occasions, the greatest solicitude exists- All the individuals 
of the tribe feel a strong desire to drive away the demon, and to 
remove thereby the impediment to the transmission of luminous 
rays. For this purpose, they go forth, and by crying, shouting, 
drumming, and the firing of guns, endeavor to frighten him, and 
they never fail in their object, for by courage and perseverance, 
they infallibly drive him off. His retreat is succeeded by a return 
of the obstructed light. Something of the same sort is practised 
among the Chippeways, when an eclipse happens. The belief 
among them is, that there is a battle between the sun and moon, 
which intercepts the light Their great object, therefore, is to stop 
the fighting, and to separate the combatants. They think these 
ends can be accomplished by withdrawing the attention of the con- 
tending parties from each other, and diverting it to ilie Chippeways 
themselves. They accordingly fill the air with noise and outcry. 
Such sounds are sure to attract the attention of the warring powers. 
Their philosophers have the satisfaction of knowing that the strife 
never lasted long after their clamor and noisy operations began 
Being thus induced to be peaceful, the sun and moon separate and 
light is restored to the Chippeways. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- 299 

Now it is reported, on the authority of one of the Jesuit fathers 
of the French mission in India, that a certain tribe or people, 
whom he visited there, ascribed eclipses to the presence of a great 
dragon. This creature, by the interposition of his huge body, ob- 
structed the passage of the light to our world ; they were persuad- 
ed they could drive him away by terrifying sounds, in which they 
were always successful, as the dragon soon retired in great alarm, 
when the eclipses immediately terminated. 

The manner of depositing the bodies of distinguished persons 
after death, is remarkable. Among the tribes inhabiting the banks 
of the Columbia river, which empties into the Pacific Ocean, in la- 
titude 47 degrees north, and in some of those which live near the 
waters of the Missouri, the dead body of a great man is neither 
consumed by fire, nor buried in the earth, but it is placed in his 
canoe, with his articles of dress, ornament, war, and hunting, and 
suspended in the canoe, between two trees, to putrify in the open 
air. The custom of exposing bodies to decomposition above ground, 
in the morals, or places of deposit for the dead, among the Polyne- 
sians, will immediately occur to every reader of the voyages made 
within the last half century, through the Pacific Ocean for the pur- 
poses of discovery. 



CANNIBALISM IN AMERICA. 

The practice of cannibalism exists in full force, in the Fegee 
islands. A particular and faithful account of it is contained in the 
14th volume of the Medical Repository, chaps. 209, and 215. The 
History of the five Indian nations dependant upon the government 
of New- York, by Dr. Colden, page 185 — 6, shows that the fero- 
cious and vindictive spirit of the conqueror led him occasionally to 
feast upon his captive. The Ottawas having taken an Iroquois 
prisoner, made a soup of his flesh. The like has been repeatedly 
done since, on select occasions, by other tribes. Governour Cass, 
of Michigan, informed me, that among the Miamis, there was a 
standing committee, consisting of seven warriors, whose business it 



300 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

was to perform the man eating required by public authority. The 
last of their cannibal feasts was on the body of a white man, of 
Kentucky, about forty years ago. The appointment of the com- 
mittee to eat human flesh, has since that time, gradually become 
obsolete ; but the oldest and last member of this cannibal society is 
well remembered, and died only a few years ago. 

A very circumstantial description of a cannibal feast, where a 
soup was made of the body of an Englishman, at Michilimackinack, 
about the year 1760, is given by Alexander Henry 3 Esq., in his 
book of travels through Canada and the indian territories. In that 
work it is stated that man eating was then, and always had been, 
practised among the Indian nations, on returning from war, or on 
overcoming their enemies, for the purpose of giving them courage 
to attack, and resolution to die." — Medical Repository, vol. 14, pp. 
261, 262. 

As extraordinary as this may appear, we are informed by Baron 
Humboldt, in his personal narrative, that " in Egypt, in the 13th 
century, five or six hundred years ago, the habit of eating human 
flesh pervaded all classes of society. Extraordinary snares were 
spread, for physicians in particular. They were called to attend 
persons who pretended to be sick, but who were only hungry, and 
it was not in order to be consulted, but devoured." 

Situated west, northwest and southwest of North America, in 
the Pacific Ocean, are a vast number of islands, scattered over all 
that immense body of water, extending in groups quite across to 
China, along the whole Asiatic coast. The general character of 
these islanders is similar, though somewhat diversified in language, 
in complexion are much the same, which is copper, with the ex- 
ception only of now and then people of the African descent, and 
those of the Japan islands, who are white. 

By examining Morse, we find them in the practice of scarificing 
human beings, and also of devouring them, as we find the savages 
of America were accustomed to do from time immemorial ; having 
but recently suspended the appalling custom. 

From this similarity, an account of which, however, might be 
extended in detail to a vast amount, existing between these island- 
ers, and the disinterred remains of the exterminated race, who, as 
it is supposed, built most of the works of the west, it is inferred 
they are the same. Their complexion and manners agree, at the 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- 301 

present time, with the people of these islands ; we mean those of 
the Malay race, yet remaining in South America, in their native 
state of Society. 

Also the natives of the Caribbean islands, in the Caribbean sea, 
which is the same with the Gulf of Mexico, only this sea is at the 
southern extremity of the Gulf, are of the same race, who, in their 
migrations from the Pacific Ocean, have peopled many parts of the 
South and North x\merican continent, the remains of whom are 
found on those islands, as well as among the unsubdued nations in 
the woods of South America. 

It is doubtless a fact, that the earliest tribes who separated from 
the immediate regions about Ararat, passed onward to the east,, 
across the countries now called Persia, Bucharia, and the Chinese 
empire, till they reached the sea, or Pacific Ocean, opposite the 
American continent. 

From thence, in process of time, on account of an increase of 
population, they left the main continent, in search of the islands, 
and passing from one group to another, till all those islands became 
peopled, and until they reached even the western coast of not only 
South but North America. 

At the same time, tribes from the same region of Ararat, travelled 
westward, passing over all Europe and southward, filling the re- 
gions of Africa, and the islands in the Atlantic Ocean opposite the 
coasts of South and North America, till they also reached the main 
land, meeting their fellows, after having each of them circumambu- 
lated half of the earth. 

And having started from the regions of Ararat and the tower of 
Babel, with languages diilering one from another, and having also 
in process of time, acquired habits arising from differences of cir- 
cumstances, mostly dissimilar one from the other, wars for the mas- 
tery the most dreadful must have ensued, each viewing the others 
as intruders, from whence they knew not. This is evident from 
the traditions of the inhabitants of the two Americas ; some tribes 
pointing to the east, others to the west, and others again to the 
north, as the way from whence their ancestors came. 

According to Clavigero, the naturalist, the ancestors of the na- 
tions which peopled Anahuac, now called New-Spain, might have 
passed from the northern countries of Europe, (as Norway,) to the 
northern parts of America, on the coast of Labrador, which is called 



S02 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

British America and Canada; also from the most eastern parts of 
Asia to the most western parts of America. This conclusion is 
founded on the constant and general tradition of those nations, 
which unanimously say, that their ancestors came into Anahuac, 
or New-Spain, from the countries of the north and northwest. This 
tradition is confirmed by the remains of many ancient edifices, 
built by those people in their migrations. In a journey made by 
the Spaniards in 1606, more than two hundred years since, from 
New-Mexico to the river which they call Tizan, six hundred miles 
from Anahuac towards the northwest, they found there some large 
edifices, and met with some Indians who spoke the Mexican lan- 
guage, and who told them that a few days' journey from that river 
towards the north, was the kingdom of Tolan, and many other in- 
habited places, from whence the Mexicans migrated. In fact, the 
whole population of Anahuac have usually affirmed, that towards 
the north were the kingdoms and provinces of Tolan, Aztalan, Ca» 
pallan, and several others, which are all Mexican names, now so 
designated ; but were we to trace these names to their origin, they 
would be found to be of Mongol or Mogul origin, from Asia. Bo- 
turini, or Bouterone, a learned antiquarian of Paris, of the 17th 
century, says, that in the ancient pointings of the Taltecas, a nation 
of Mexico, or more anciently called Anahuac, was represented the 
migrations of their ancestors through Asia, and the northern coun- 
tries of America, until they established themselves in the country 
of Tolan— Morse, p. 618. 

This river Tizan is, unquestionably, the river Columbia, which 
belongs to the territory owned by the United States, bordering on 
the coast of the Pacific, in latitude 47 degrees north ; which from 
Anahuac, in Mexico, is just about that distance (600 miles ; and 
this river being the only one of much size emptying into the sea on 
that side of the Rocky mountains, between the latitude of Mexico 
and the latitude of the mouth of the Columbia, is the reason why 
that river may, almost with certainty, be supposed the very Indian 
Tizan. But still farther north, several days' journey, were the 
kingdoms and provinces of Tolan, Aztalan, and Capallan, which 
were probably in the latitude with the northern parts of the United 
States's lands west of the Rocky mountains, and filling all the re- 
gions east as far as the head waters of the great western rivers ; 
thence down those streams, peopling the vast alluvials in Indiana, 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- 303 

Missouri, Illinois, Northwestern Territory, Ohio, Kentucky, Mis- 
sissippi, and so on to the Gulf of Mexico. 

Although those kingdoms and provinces spoken of by the natives 
of Tizan, to these Spanish adventurers; had many hundred years 
before been vacated of their population and grandeur; yet it was 
Natural for them to retain the tradition of their numbers and extent : 
and to speak of them as then existing, which, as to latitude and lo- 
cation, was true, although in a state of ruin, like the edifices at the 
Tizan, or Columbia. 

In an address delivered at New-York, before the College of Phy- 
sicians, by Dr. Mitchell, which relates to the migrations of Malays 
Tartars and Scandinavians, we have the following : 

" A late German writer, Prof. Vater, has published, at Leipsig, 
a book on the population of America. He lays great stress on the 
tongues spoken by the aborigines, and dwells considerably upon 
the unity pervading the whole of them, from Chili to the remotest 
district of North America, whether of Greenland, Chippewa, Dela- 
ware, Natick, Totuaka, Cora or Mexico. Though ever so singu- 
lar and diversified, nevertheless the same peculiarity obtains among 
them all, which cannot be accidental, viz : the whole sagacity of 
that people from whom the construction of the American languages 
and the gradual invention of their grammatical forms is derived, 
has, as it were, selected one object, and over this diffused such an 
abundance of forms, that one is astonished; while only the most 
able philologist, or grammarian of languages, by assiduous study, 
can obtain a general view thereof. 

" In substance, the author (Prof- Vater) says, that through va- 
rious times and circumstances, this peculiar character is preserved. 
Such unity, such direction, or tendency 3 compels us to place the 
origin in a remote period, when one original tribe or people existed, 
whose ingenuity and judgment enabled them to excogitate or invent 
such intricate formations of language as could not be effaced by 
thousands of years, nor by the influence of zones and climates. 

" Mr. Vater has published a large work, entitled Mithridates, in 
which he has given an extensive comparison of all the Asiatic, Af- 
rican and American languages, to a much greater extent than was 
done by our distinguished fellow citizen, Dr. Barton, of Philadel- 
phia, Professor of Natural History. Mr. Vater concludes by ex- 
pressing his desire to unravel the mysteries which relate to the new 



304 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

and old continents ; at least to contribute the contents of his volume 
towards the commencement of a, structure, which, out of the ruins 
of dilacerated human tribes, seeks materials for an union of the 
whole human race in one origin ; which some have disputed, not- 
withstanding the plain statement of the Bible on that subject, 
which is a book entitled to the term antiquity, paramount to all 
other records now in existence on the earth. 

" What this original and radical language was, has very lately 
been the subject of inquiry by the learned Mr. Mathieu, of Nancy, 
in France. The Chevalier Valentine, of the order of St. Michael, 
renewed by Louis XVIII; informs me that this gentleman has exa- 
mined Mr. Winthrop's description of the curious characters in- 
scribed upon the roek at Dighton, Massachusetts, as published in 
the Transactions of the Boston Academy of Arts and Sciences. 
He thinks them hieroglyphics, which he can interpret and explain, 
and ascribes them to the inhabitants of the ancient Atlantic island 
of Plato, called by him Atalantis. Mr. Mathieu not only professes 
to give the sense of the- inscription, but also to prove that the 
tongues spoken by the Mexicans, Peruvians, and other occidental 
or western people, as well as the Greek itself, with all its dialects, 
and ramifications, were but derivations from the language of the 
primitive Atalantians of the island" of Plato." — See page 80, fyc. 



ANCIENT LANGUAGES OF THE FIRST INHABITANTS OF 
AMERICA. 

First Letter to Mr. Champollion, on the Graphic Systems 
of America, and the Glyphs of Otolum or Palenque, in Central 
America. By C. S. Rafinesque. 

You have become celebrated by decypheringj at last, the glyphs 
and characters of the ancient Egyptians, which all your learned 
predecessors had deemed a riddle, and pronounced impossible to 
read. You first announced your discovery in a letter. I am going 
to follow your footsteps on another continent, and a theme equally 
obscure ; to none but yourself can I address with more propriety, 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 305 

letters on a subject so much alike in purpose and importance, and 
so similar to your own labors. 

I shall not enter at present into any very elaborate discussion. 
I shall merely detail, in a concise manner, the object and result of 
my inquiries, so as to assert my claim to a discovery of some im- 
portance in a philological and historical point of view; which was 
announced as early as 1828 in some journals, (i5 letters to Mr. M'- 
Culloh on the American nations,) but not properly illustrated. 
Their full development would require a volume, like that of yours 
on the Egyptian antiquities, and may follow tnis perhaps at some 
future time. 

It may be needful to prefix the following principles as guides to 
my researches, or results of my inquiries. 

1. America has been the land of false systems; all those made 
in Europe on it are more or less v^l and erroneous. 

2. The Americans were equal in antiquity, civilization and sci- 
ences to the nations of Africa and Europe ; like them the children 
of the Asiatic nations. 

3. It is false that no American nations had systems of writing, 
glyphs and letters. Several had various modes of perpetuating 
ideas. 

4. There were several such graphic systems in America to ex- 
press ideas, all of which find equivalents in the east continent. 

5. They may be ranged in twelve series, proceeding from the 
most simple to the most complex. 

1st. Series.^- Pictured symbols or glyphs of the Toltecas, Az- 
tecas, Huaztecas, Skeres, Panos, &c. Similar to the first symbols 
of the Chinese, invented by Tien-hcang, before the flood and 
earliest Egyptian glyphs. 

2d. Series. — Outlines of figures or abridged symbols and glyohs, 
expressing words or ideas, used by almost all the nations of North 
and South America, even the most rude. Similar to the second 
kind of Egyptian symbols, and the tortoise letters brought to China 
by fhe Longma (dragon and horse) nation of barbarous horsemen, 
under Sui-gin. 

3d. Series. — Quipos or knots on strings used by the Peruvians 
and several other South American nations. Similar to the third 
kind of Chinese glyphs introduced under Yong-ching, and used 
also by many nations of Africa. 

39 



306 AMEKICAN ANTIQUITIES 

4th Series. — Wampums or strings of shells and beads, used by- 
many nations of North America. Similar to those used by some an- 
cient or rude nations in all the parts of the world, as tokens of ideas. 

5th Series. — Runic glyphs or marks and notches on twigs or 
lines, used by several nations of North America. Consimilar to 
the runic glyphs of the Celtic and Teutonic nations. 

6th Series. — Runic marks and dots, or graphic symbols, not on 
strings nor lines, but in rows ; expressing words or ideas ; used by 
the ancient nations of North America and Mexico, the Talegas, 
Aztecas, Natchez, Powhatans, Tuscaroras, &c, and also the Mu- 
hizcas of South America. Similar to the ancient symbols of the 
Etruscans, Egyptians, Celts, &c, and the Ho-tu of the Chinese, 
invented by Tsang-hie, called also the Ko-teu-chu letters, which 
were in use in China till 827 before our era. 

1th Series.— Alphabetical symbols, expressing syllables or sounds, 
not words but grouped, and the groups disposed in rows , such is 
the graphic system of the monuments of Otolum, near Palenque, 
the American Thebes. Consimilar to the groups of alphabetical 
symbols used by the ancient Lybians, Egyptians, Persians, and also 
the last graphic system of the Chinese, called Ventze, invented by 
Sse-hoang. 

8th Series.— Cursive symbols in groups, and the groups in paral- 
lel rows, derived from the last, (which are chiefly monumental,) 
and used in the manuscripts of the Mayans, Guatamalans, &c. 
Consimilar to the actual cursive Chinese, some demotic Egyptian, 
and many modifications of ancient graphic alphabets, grouping the 
letters or syllables. 

9th Series.-— Syllabic letters, expressing syllables, not simple 
sounds, and disposed in rows. Such is the late syllabic alphabet 
of the Cherokis, and many graphic inscriptions found in North and 
South America. Similar to the syllabic alphabets of Asia, Africa 
and Polynesia. 

10th Series.— Alphabets or graphic letters, expressing simple 
sounds and disposed in rows. Found in many inscriptions, medals, 
anl coins in North and South America, and lately introduced every 
where by the European colonists. Similar to the alphabets of Asia, 
Africa and Europe. 

llth Series. — Abreviations, or letters standing for whole words, 
or part of a glyph and graphic delineation, standing and expressing 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- 



307 



the whole. Used by almost all the writing nations of North and 
South America; as well as Asia, Europe and Africa. 

12th Series. — Numeric system of graphic signs, to express num- 
bers. All the various kinds of signs, such as dots, lines, strokes, 
circles, glyphs, letters, &c, used by some nations of North and 
South America, as well as in the eastern continent. 

In my next letter I shall chiefly illustrate the 7th and 8th series 
so as to decypher and explain one of the most curious and least 
known of the American modes of expressing and perpetuating ideas. 
I shall give a figure of a sample of those monumental symbols, 
with comparative figures of two alphabets of Africa, the nearest re- 
lated to them, and where the elements may be traced, which are 
grouped in those glyphs. 

[The characters here presented aie the glyphs alluded to by this 
author, formed from the Combinations of the African and American 
letters, shown and treated upon page 118 of this work. For an 
accountof those glyphs, see pages 122, 123 and 124. 




At the first glance, the most cursory observer is impressed with 
4, the idea of their likeness to the Chinese glyphs, which, in the Ian- 



308 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

guages in which they were or are in use, is equivalent to the com- 
bination of our letter when grouped so as to spell words, and show 
that America, in its earliest- history, was not without its literati, and 
means of improvement by the use of letters, but was lost by means 
of revolutions as once was the fate of the Roman empire. 

We have glanced at the following circumstance before, on page 
241 : we hope the reader will excuse its repetition as we wish in 
this place to give the entire remarks of the author on this most in- 
teresting subject, the letters and glyphs of America.] 

Some years ago, the Society of Geography, of Paris, offered a 
large premium for a voyage to Guatimala, and a new suryey of the 
antiquities of Yucatan and Chiapa, chiefly those fifteen miles from 
Palenque, which are wrongly called by that name. I have re- 
stored to them the true name of Otolum, which is yet the name of 
the stream running through the ruins, I should have been inclined 
to undertake this voyage and exploration myself, if the civil dis- 
cords of the country did not forbid it. My attention was drawn 
forcibly to this subject as soon as the account of those ruins, sur- 
veyed by Captain Del Rio as early as 1787, but withheld from the 
public eye by Spain, was published in 1S22, in English. 

This account, which partly describes the ruins of a stone city 75 
miles in circuit, (length 32 English miles, greatest breadth 12 
miles,) full of palaces, monuments, statues and inscriptions ; one 
of the earliest s^ats of American civilization, about equal to Thebes 
of Egypt, was well calculated to inspire me with hopes that they 
would throw a great light over American history, when more pro- 
perly examined. 

I have been disappointed in finding that no traveller has dared to 
penetrate again to that recondite place, and illustrate all the ruins, 
monuments, with the languages yet spoken all around. The So- 
ciety of Geography has received many additional accounts, derived 
irom documents preserved in Mexico ; but they have not been 
deemed worthy of the reward offered for a new survey, and have 
not even been published. The same has happened with Tiahua- 
naco, in Bolivia and South America, another mass of ancient ruins 
and mine of historical knowledge, which no late traveller has visit- 
ed or described. 

Being therefore without hope of any speedy accession to our 
knowledge of those places, I have been compelled to work upon^ 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 309 

the materials now extant, which have happily enabled me to do a 
great deal, notwithstanding all their defects, and throw some light 
on that part of the history of America-. 

C. S RAFINESQUE, 
Philadelphia, January, 1832= 



Tabular View of the American Generic Languages and Ori- 
ginal Nations, by the same author. 

One of the most glaring errors of speculative philosophers on the 
subject of America, is found in their as&ertion, that American lan- 
guages and nations are multiplied beyond conception, and cannot 
be reduced to order- This misconception arose from a superficial 
knowledge of the matter, and a wish to assert extraordinary things. 
If the same wish had been evinced respecting Europe, they could 
have found sixty languages and nations in Francej and one hundred 
in Italy, by considering the various provincial French and Italian 
dialects as so many langunges, since many of them cannot be un- 
derstood by the respective provincials of the same country. And 
each provincial group would be a nation, since languages distin- 
guish nations. 

Even Balbi, after reducing the 1 500 or 1800 supposed American 
languages anci tribes to 422, has not attempted to class them, ex- 
cept geographically. I made the attempt ever since 1824, in the 
Cincinnati Literary Gazette, and have since corrected my classifi- 
cation, reducing the 1800 American dialects to about 25 generic 
languages, which belong to the original nations of America, many 
of which have yet as much affinity as the Latin and Greek, of 
English and German. 

They are the following: fourteen from North, and eleven from 
South America. 

1. Languages and Nations from North America. 

1. Uskih, divided into about 30 dialects and tribes-; such as 
Esquimaux, Mceuts, Chugach, Aleutian, Chuchi, &c, spoken all 
over Boreal America, from Behring's strait and Alaski to Labrador, 
and Greenland. 

2. Onguy, about 50 dialects and tribes ; Huron, Onondaga, Sen- 
eca, Hochelaga, Tuscorora, Notoway, &c, extending from the Pa- 
cific ocean to Canada and Carolina. 



310 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

3. Levap) nearly 250 dialects and tribes ; such as Chinuc, Din- 
neh, Algic, Shawan, Miami., Micmac, Mohegan, Nantico, Pow- 
hatan, &c., extended Irons the Columbia river on the Pacific ocear. 
to Hudson bay, New-Iks gh^d and Florida. 

4. Wacashj about 60 dialects and tribes ; Atnah, Chopunish. 
Coluch, Chingita, &c.j sicken from California to latitude 55 in the 
northwest coast of America. 

5. Skcreh, above 125 dialects and tribes ; Panis, Sens, Pakis, 
Lepan, Shoshoni, Opata, TJchis, Poyay, &c, extending from Slave 
lake to California, Texas s Florida, and Honduras. 

6. Nachez, nearly 75 dialects and tribes ; Cado, Yatasih, Wo- 
con, Cuza, Cataba, &e. ? extending from Giaaloa in the west, to 
Carolina in the east. 

7. Capahriy about 50 dialects and tribes ; Washasha, Yatani, 
Oto, Ochagra, Dacota, &c, extending from the head of Missouri 
river to the Wabash and Arkanzas river. 

8. Chactah, ahove 40 dialects and tribes ; Chicasa, Yazu, Corea, 
Humah, Muskolgih, Seminole* &c, extending from Texas to 
Florida. 

9. Otaly, about 25 dialects and tribes ; Tsuluki or Cherokees, 
Tallegha, Talahuicas, Talaha^i, &c, extending from the Alleghany 
mountains to the mountains of Mexico. 

10. Atalan, about 35 dialects and tribes ; Tala or Tarasca, Ma- 
talan, Tulan, Tecas, Tolban, Colima, Tarahumara, &C, extending 
from New-Mexico to Mihuacan and Nicaragua. 

11. Otomi, about 20 dialects and tribes; Miges, Dotami, Ma- 
zahuy, &o., extending from Arkanzas to Mexico. 

12. Aztec, about 20 dialects and tribes ; Tolteca, Olmeca, Cora, 
Pipil, &c, extending from Mexico to Nicaragua. 

13. Maya, about 40 dialects and tribes ; Huazteca, Poconchi, 
Guichi, &c , extending from Texas to Yucatan, and Guatimala. 

14. Chonlalj about 50 dialects and tribes : Tzendal, Choles, 
Locas, Leneas, Zoquea, Quele^ Chiapan, &c, extending froi 
Chiapa to Panama. 

2". Languages and nations of South America. 

15. Aruac, having nearly 100 dialects and tribes ; such as Hay- 
ti an, Cuban, Yucayan, Eyeri, Cairi, Arara, Cumana, Arayas, Ara 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WESf. 311 

goas, &c, extending from the islands ot Bahama and Cuba to Coro, 
C'imana, Guyana end Brazil. ( 

16. Calina, about 122 dialects and tribes; Qarib, Galibi, Yaoy, 
Tatnanac, Guarivas, Gotos. Cbaymas, Cutacas, &c, spread from 
the Carib islands -o Darien, Oronoco, Guyana and Brazil. 

17. Puns, about 90 dialects and tribes ; Maypuri*,, Achaguas, 
Coropos, Camacan, Partxis, P^rias, &c, extending from Paria and 
the Oronoco to Brazil and Paraguay. 

18. Varum, about 25 dialects and tribes; Befoy, Arico, Ele, 
Yaros, Charua, Ozomaca, C?.un?, &e t , spread from the river Oro- 
noco to the river Parana and Popayan. 

19. Cuna, about 25 dialects and tribes ; such as Uraba, Darien 5 
Cunacuna, Choco, Coeinas, &c, spread from Panama to Coro and 
Popayan. 

20. Magna, about 60 dialects and tribes; Yameos, Amaonos, 
Manoa, Cauchas, PanGS, Managua. Sclimos, Aguanos, &c, spread 
from Popayan and Quito to the Maranon and Parana. 

21. Maca, about 100 dialects and tribes; Mubizc?- Yuncas, 
Zamuca," Pancha, Moxos, Otoraaeas, Toa, Piaoco, Chseo, &c, 
spreading throughout South America from Cundinamarea to Peru, 
and Brazil. 

22. Guarani, nearly 300 dialects and tribes; Tupi, Omsgua, 
Cocama, Guyana, Payugua, # &c« spread throughout Brazil, and 
from the Andes to the Atlantic sea, as far south as Buenos Ayres. 

23. Maran, about 50 dialects and tribes; Quichua, Aymaru, 
Muras, Marahas, Andoa, Moraia?, Zapibo, Cuyaba, &c, spread 
from Peru in the west to Brazil in the east, on both sides of the 
equator. 

24. Lule, about 25 dialects and tribes ; Vilela, Mocobi, Abipon, 
Toba, Atalala, &c, spread through Chaco, Tucuman and Para- 
guay. 

25. Chili, about 20 dialects and tribes; Pueiche, Chonos, 
Araucan, Tehuelet, Yacanac, Kemenet, &c, spread all over Aus- 
tral America from Chili to Magelania and theFuego islands. 

Even these twenty-five languages and original nations may per- 
haps be reduced to eighteen, by more accurate investigation ; thus 
the 4th and 5th may become united ; as well as 6 and 9, 7 and 1 1, 
9 and 10, as they have considerable analogies. The same may 



312 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

happen in South America with 15 16 and 19, also with 17 18 and 
20, wliich approximate by gradual dialects. 

C. S. RAFINESQUE. 

July 4th, 1829. 

Remark. — The above was published in the Evening Post; it is 
now re-printed, because it is the key to American ethnology, phi- 
lology and history. The prows would fill volumes. It is results 
that analytical sciences chiefly require. The wide extent of Na- 
tions 1, 2, 3, 12, 15, 16, 22, were already acknowledged ; the 
others depend on my researches, and are open yet to many im- 
provements, nay, I have effected some since 1829. 



The Atlantic Nations of America, 

The ocean separating Europe and Africa from America is yet 
called the Atlantic ocean, our litoral states are called the Atlantic 
states. The Atlantes of North Africa, who gave their name to the 
Atlas mountains, and whose descendants exist there as yet under 
the names of Taurics, Berbers, Shelluh, Showiah, &c, were one 
of the primitive nations of both continents. They came to Ameri- 
ca soon after the flood, if not before, colonised and named the ocean 
and the islands in it, as well as America, which was called the 
Great Atlantis, or rather Atala, meaning the first, or main land. 
This name is preserved in Hindu traditions. The Atlantes were 
not the only primitive colonists of America, but they were the 
most conspicuous and civilized. Their true name was Atalans. 
They may have been the founders of Otolum, and many other an- 
cient cities. Their descendants exist to this day in America, under 
the names of Talas or Tarascas, Aialalas, Matalans, Talegawis, 
Otalis or Tsulukis, Talahuicas, Chontalas or Tsendalas, &c, from 
Carolina to Guatimala. 

When Columbus discovered again America, he and the earliest 
explorers were struck with the similarity between many American 
tribes, and the Guanches of the Canary islands, remains of the 
Oceanic Atlantes, in features, manners and speech. Whether the 
Haytians, Cubans and Aruacs, were genuine Atlantes, is rather 
doubtful, because their language is more akin to the Pelagic than 
the j^lantic But three at least out of the twenty-five original na- 
tions of America above enumerated, may safely be deemed chil- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- 313 

then of the Atlantes. They are the ninth or Otalis, the tenth or 
Atalans, and the fourteenth or Chontals. 

This could be proved in many ways, and by their languages com- 
pared with those of their African brethren, Tuarics, Guanches, &c. 
after a separation of several thousand years. But the proofs would 
fill a volume. 

Our actual Cherokis and akin tribes are the children of the first 
branch, named Otalis. This was their original name. Adair only 
100 years ago says, that the genuine or upland Cherokis were cal- 
led Otalis, which name meant mountaineers as in Afriea. They 
call themselves now Tsulukis. Our name of Cherokis is derived 
from the word Chelakis, name of a tribe. They have not the 
sound of R in their speech. Only one tribe substitutes R to L. 
The interesting history of this nation shall deserve our attention 
hereafter. The Chontal branch or nation will come under notice 
in investigating the antiquities of Otolum or Palenque. It remains 
here to survey the genuine branch of Atalans; eldest perhaps of 
the American Atlantes. 

Among this, the best known (and yet hardly known) are the 
Tarascas of Michuacan, in West Mexico ; the brave nation that 
first asserted the late Mexican independence. Their true name is 
Tala, and Tala, s, ca, meaning Tala self, ihe y or, in our idiom, 
the veryself Tala. They have no r in their speech, and this name 
was changed by the Othomis and Mexicans into Tarascas. See 
grammar of their language by Basalenque, Mexico, 1714. 

From this interesting little work, some other account from Vater 
and the Spanish writers, we learn something of their language 
which is yet spoken and may be thoroughly studied. We also 
learn that they formed a powerful and civilized kingdom, indepen- 
dent of Mexico, at the Spanish invasion, which became the ally of 
the Spaniards, but was by them subdued by treachery and infa- 
mous conduct. But we learn very little of their previous history : 
and the little known is buried in untranslated Spanish books. It 
is by their language that we can hope to trace their origin and most 
remote history. Languages do not lie, says Home Tooke. They 
reveal what time has buried in oblivion. 

We shall therefore give some account of it, that the learned or 
curious may study its affinities. So far as we Have done so alrea- 
dy, we have been struck with its evident analogy with the Atlau- 

40 



314 



AMEKIGAN ANTIQUITIES 



tic, Coptic, Pelagic, Greek, Latin and Italian languages of Africa 
and Europe, both in words and structure, in spite of a separation 
of some thousand years. 

This language is rich, beautiful, and highly complex. It amal- 
gamates particles to modify the words, as in Italian. The verbs 
have fifteen modifications, as in Italian, or nearly so j they can be 
compounded as in Greek. It admits of all the Greek rhetorical 
figures. The plural is formed by x. It has nearly all the Euro- 
pean vocal sounds except/ and r / also no gn, and no //; but it has 
three sibilant ts, tz and tzh. 

The analogies with the Italian are striking in the following 
phrases, and some even appear with the Saxon English. 



English, 


Tala. 


Italian. 


1. Thou 


Thu 


Tu 


2. Was (wast) 


Esca 


Sei (fosti) 


3. Thou who 


Thuqui 


Tuche 


4. Spoke 


Vandahaca 


Favelasti 


1. I 


Hi 


Io 


2. Was 


Esca 


Sie (fui) 


3. I who 


Hiquinini 


Io che 


4. Loved 


Pamphzahaca 


Amai 


1. Is not 


Noxas 


NonE 


2. So wise 


Mimixeti 


Amico (sayio) 


3. As I 


Isqui hi 


Com'io. 



The following vocabulary of 85 words, gives a fair sample of the 
language. The affinities with the Pelagic and its children, Greek, 
Latin, Etruscan and Italian, are marked by the letter P ; those with 
the Atlantic dialects of Africa, with the letter A. They amount to 
50 out of 85 with the Pelagic, or 60 per cent, of analogy ; and to 
33 out of 65 with the Atlantic, or 51 per cent. These are striking 
facts, deserving attention, in spite of the unbelief some ignorant 
or lazy philosophers or historians, who neglect or disbelieve these 
evident proofs. The sixteen English affinities are marked by an 
asterisk. The orthography is, of course, Spanish. 

English, Tala. English. Tala. 

Water Ama, Ma, A. P. Land* Haca, eche, andatze. 

Fire Pa, vepo, tani, A. P. A. P* 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 



315 



SZngfith. 
Stone 

Men 

Dog 

Mountain* 
Star 
Day 

Night 

Heaven* 

House* 

Father* 

Mother 



Tola. 
Tzacapu ,zampsin , A .P, 
Cuiri, A. 
Puecha, P. 
Marin, P. 
Vichu, A. 
Vata, A. 
Hosqua 
Vina, P. 
Ahchiuri, tzire 
Parini, avandu, A. P. 
0, chao, P. A. 
Tata, A. P. 
Nana, P. 



Hand, arm Cu, xu, A- 



Foot 

Head 

Mouth* 

Beard 

End, tail 

One 

Alone 

Ten 

Much 

Priest* 

God 
Just 
Good 



Du, A. 
Tsi, P. 

Mu, A. P. 
Hapu, P. 
Yara, P. 

Mah 
Mahco 
Xam, P. 
Cani, A. 
Amberi, P. 

quinametin 
Tucapacha, A. 
Casipeti 
Ambaqueti 



Wise,friendMimi, P. A, 



Little 

Tree 

Bark 

Leaf 

Bread 

Color* 

Plain 

Sand 

Peak 



Caxeti 
Emba, ches, 
Chucari, P. 
Zahcuri 
Curinda, A. 
Chara, P. 
Pe, P. 
Cutza 
Phurequa, P. 



A. P. 



English. 
Thine 
You 
Yours 
We 
Ours 
This 
These 
That 

Mine, own 
Be 

To be 
I am 
Is* 
Was 

Place* eartb 
King 
Kingdom 
Name 
Fish 
City* 
Deer 
Festival 
To give 
To write 
To say 
To hold 
To wash 
To think 
To take 
To come 
Food 
Drink 
Handsome 
Living 
To live 
Singer 
To sing 
Not* 



Tola. 
Thuicheveri 
Thucha 
Thuchaveri 
Hucha 
Huchaveri 

I, P. 
Ix 

Inde, ima 

Huchevi 

E, A. P. 

Eni, A. P. 

Ehaca, A. P. 

Esti, A. P. 

Esca, A. P. 

Can, haca, A. P. 

Irecha, A.P. 

Arikeve, P. 

Acan, guriqua 

Mechoa, P. 

Fatziza, P. 

Taximaroa 

Metotes, P. 

Inspeni 

Carani, P. 

Harani, P. 

Uhcamani 

Hopo 

Hangue, P. 

Piran, P. 

Hurani, P. Tirovi 

Caro, aqua, P. A. 

Itsima, A. 

Tzitzis, A. 

Tzipeti, P. 

Tzipeni 

Pireti, P. 

Pireni 

Noww, P, A. 



316 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



English. 


Tala. 


English. 


Tala 


Evil- 


Sismaraqui, 


himboo Like,* as 


Isqui, P. 


Boat 


Xu,A. 


Love 


Pampza, P, 


Self* 


S, P. 


Speech 


Vanda, P. 


I, me* 


Hi, P. A. 


Who, whom 


Qui, P. 


Myself 


His, P. A. 


The 


Ca 


Thou* 


Thu, P. 







FURTHER ACCOUNTS OF COLONIES FROM EUROPE SETTLED 
IN AMERICA. 

On the Zapotecas, and other Tribes of the State of Oaxaca. 
By C. S. Rafinesque. 

It is to be regretted, that the author of the notice on the Zapote- 
cas of Oaxaca, and their temple of Mitctla, inserted in the Septem- 
ber No. of the Journal of Geology, has remained anonymous : hav- 
ing stated some new historical facts, he ought to have given his 
name, since he has quoted no authority. For instance to what au- 
thor had he access to for the names of the two last kings of the 
Zapotecas, Cosi-foeza and Cosi-xopu? When did they cease to 
rule, and is there a longer list of these kings ? 

Some account of these kings and their deeds, as well as the Za- 
poteca language, which is hardly known, would have been more 
acceptable to the learned, than the notice on Mictla, called Mitla 
by Humboldt, and already described by him, with a figure. Even 
the true name of the Zapotecas in their own language is unknown, 
that name being merely a nickname given them by their foes, the 
Aztecas or Mexicans : it means Apple-people, Tecas (People) and 
Zapo, or Zapotly a generic name for apples. (Tl added to words 
answers in Azteca to our article the.) It is by these nicknames 
that the American tribes have been disfigured and swelled beyond 
truth. The first inquiry in their history is to ascertain their true 
national name, which is often no easy task. 

My authorities for the following account are, Herrera's History 
of Spanish America from 1492 to 1554, Garcia's Origen delos In- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 317 

dios, Laet, Clavigero, Humboldt, Diaz, Vater, Siguenza, Acosta, 
Torquemada, Touron, Alcedo, &c. 

Oaxaca is a fine province, (now state,) south of Vera Cruz, and 
southeast of Mexico. It was founded in 1580 by the union of the 
two provinces of Zapotecas and Miztecas, the name being given 
the city of Guaxaca, formerly Huacxyacac, and now softened into 
Oaxaca, capital of the estate of Cortez, who was made Marquis of 
Guaxaca, in reward of his conquest, or rather invasion of Mexico. 

The Miztecas dwelt between the Zapotecas and Mexico ; they 
were a fierce nation, yet at war with the Spaniards and Zapotecas 
in 1572, and only subdued between 1572 and 1580. (Laet.~) Their 
name has been spelt also Mixtecas, Mictec, Mixes, Micos, Mecos, 
Miges, &c. All these names, leaving off tecas, which means peo- 
ple, imply Lion, or rather Cuguar, an animal of the tiger genus, 
which was the emblem or progenitor of the nation, (Miz, tiger ge- 
nus, in Azteca.) But the Mexicans changed it by contempt, pro- 
bably, into Mic, Mix or Mec, a single word meaning four things in 
Azteca, which are connected in the language : north, hell, devil, 
apes. This is evidently the root of Micila, tla being the article or 
an abreviation of tlan a place . • 

It is by this apparently trivial examen and etymology that I have 
come to the important conclusion, that the Miztecas and Zapotecas 
are the modern remains of the ancient nations of Olmecas and 
Xicalancas, mentioned in Mexican history as anterior to the Tolte- 
ces in Anahuac ; and that the Otomis and Chichlmccas were also 
consimilar tribes. Here it will be needful to refer to ancient tra- 
ditions, which are not all lost. Although Zumaraga, first bishop 
of Mexico, and extolled for his zeal by the monks, behaved in 
Mexico as Omar had done in Egypt, by burning the libraries of 
Tezcuco, the Athens of Anahuac, (those of Mexico itself had been 
lost in the siege,) he could not destroy all the books scattered 
through the whole of Anahuac. Many are yet extant. Herrera 
and Garcias have given some of the traditions of the Zapotecas and 
Miztecas, neglected by Clavigero and Humboldt. An English 
lord has lately published a splendid work on some Mexican anti- 
quities and manuscripts. The library of the Philosophical society 
of Philadelphia has the fac similie of an Azteca manuscript which 
I have decyphered. 



318 



AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



The Zapotecas boast of being antediluvian in America, to have 
built the city of Coatlan (snake place in Azteca,) 327 years before 
the flood, and to have escaped the flood with their king Petela^ 
(Dog) on the mountain of Coatlan (Garcias.) Which of the two 
floods of the Aztecas this was, whether that of Xelhua, or of Cox- 
cox is hard to say. The Petela, or Dog dynasty, ruled over them 
ever since till the Spanish conquest. 

The Coatlalecasy (Snake-people,) or Cuitlatecas, Cuycatecas, 
( Singing-people ,) or Cuiscatscas, and the Popaloavas, are tribes of 
Zapotecas, speaking dialects of the same language, of which Cla- 
vigero says there is a grammar, but Vater has not given any words 
of it. I have been able to collect only twelve words of it out of 
six authors. 

God j or Creator of all things, Ahcabohuil. 

Spirit, Vinac. 

House, or place, Baa. Ba in Mizteca. 

Brother, Hun. Cuhua do 

Dog, Petela. 

Repose, or death, Lio, leo. Leob do 

Heaven, Avan. Andevui do 

Earth, Baca. Gnuagnuagdo 

Hell, or evil, Chevan. Kuachi do 

Woman, Yxca. 

Eve, or first woman, Xtmana. 

Adam, or first man, Xchmel. 

Whereby it is seen that out of six words which I have to com- 
pare in Mizteca, four are similar, and two not very different. 
Therefore the just conclusion is, that the Mizteca and Zapoteca 
are also dialects of each other, or languages very nearly related. 
The same with the Zacatecas. 

Of the Mizteca, Vater has given many words ; he surmises that 
it is very near to the Othomiz or Otomi : and he considers several 
other languages of Anahuac as dialects of it ; they are the Zoque, 
Lacandone y Mame, Zeltales or Celdales? Chiapaneca, Mazateca, 
Chochona, besides the Mixe and Cuiscateca already mentioned. 
This if true would diminish the number of languages of that region 
and extend the Mizteca nation far to the south and east in Gua- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- 219 

timala, as the Otomi and Chichimecas will extend it far to the 
north. 

I have a good vocabulary before me of the Othomiz language, 
by De Neve, 1767, and although only ten words can be found in 
the Mizteca of Vater, five cf them are alike or similar, which gives 
fifty per cent of mutual affinity, and leaves little doubt of their 
primitive connection. These words are, 





Othomiz. 


Mizteca. 


Father 


Hta 


Dzutun 


Land 


Hay 


Gnuagnay 


Nose 


Xinu 


Dztni 


Son 


. Batzi 


Dzaya 


Bread 


Thume 


Dzite 



The Chichimecas j (Dog-devils, or Northern-dogs in Aztecas) are 
not & nation, but this appellation was given to all the northern wild 
tribes and foes of the Aztecas, even to one speaking the Azteca 
language, and lately to many of the Apaches, Skere or Pani tribes, 
forming a nation spread from Anahuac to Oregon and Athabasca 
lake, among which the Shoshonis of Oregon bear also the name of 
Snake Indians as yet. 

In result I am led to believe that the Miztecas and Zapotecas 
were once with the Otomis and many others, the Snake nation of 
America, which did afterwards divide into the Dog and Cat tribes, 
or Zapotecas and Miztecas. The same has happened in Asia and 
North America, where many nations ascribe their origin to Snake- 
men, Dog-men, and Cat-men, or people. 

The Olmecas, or Olmec, or Hulmecs of ancient Anahuac, whose 
name means Old Devils in Azteca, are said to have settled in Ana- 
huac after the Othomiz, but. with their allies, the Xicallaneas, or 
Xicayans, whose name we may recognize in the Cuycatecas of 
modern times, and were probably the old Zapotecas, the Southern 
Miztecas, are yet called Xicayans. 

Their settlement is so ancient, that it is beyond the Azteca, and 
even Tolteca chronology. It happened, after the sway of Gods, 
Giants and Apes, different nations. They conquered and expelled 
the Giants or Titans of Anahuac, called Tuinametin and Tzocuit- 
lixeque, and took the name of Tequenes, or People of Tigers- 
They were divided into three tribes, Olmecas^ Xicalans and Zaca- 



320 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

tecas, speaking the same language. (See Torquemada.) They 
came from the snowy mountains, and united for this conquest under 
the king Coxanatecuhtli, building many cities, and ruling a long 
while over Anahuac. 

Another tradition traces the origin of the Hulmecas to Hulme- 
catl, brother of Xelhua, the Noah of Anahuac, and indicates seve- 
ral dynasties ruling successively their empire : Ulmec, Cochoblam, 
Quetzalcoatl, the famous legislator of Cholula, Huemac, and ends 
by Colopecthtli, last king, killed by the Tlascalans towards 1196 
of our era, who drove them to the east, settling in their country. 
The last we hear of the Ulmecas in the Aztec history, is in 1457 
and 1467, when those of Cotasta, on the sea shore, were conquered 
by Montezuma I. While this name disappears from history, that 
of the Miztecas and Zapotecas appears in the same place, or to the 
southeast of Mexico, and thus the evidence is complete that they 
were the same nation under different names. 

In 1454 the Miztecas won a great battle over the Aztecas and 
their allies, whose real sway in Anahuac only began towards 1425, 
and hardly lasted one century. In 1455 Atonaltzin, king of Miz- 
tecas, although helped by the Tlascalans, was taken, and his king- 
dom conquered. This king is elsewhere called Yaguitlan. 

The Miztecas rebelled in 1480, and in 1486 the Zapotecas re- 
sisted the whole power of Mexico. But at last became tributary; 
yet in 1506 and 1507 they both were at war again with Mexico. 

Although overjoyed at the downfall of the Mexicans, effected by 
one hundred thousand Tlascalans and allies, among which were 
some Miztecas, and nine hundred Spaniards, under Cortez, they 
did not readily submit to the Spanish yoke and tribute after the fall 
of Mexico in 1521. 

In 1522 the Zapotecas defeated Sandoval, and were only con- 
quered in 1526 by Olmedo, (See Diaz) but they have often rebelled 
against the Spaniards. In 1572 the Miztecas were at war with 
the Spaniards and the Zapotecas. These had been conciliated 
by the mild rule of their lord, Cortez, who established only a small 
quit rent on laud, without any forced labor. This system has 
made Oaxaca a flourishing city and province. 

The Zapotecas and Miztecas are represented as the handsomest 
Indians of Mexico, nearly white, and the females are beautiful, as 
white as the Spanish women. This also happens in Zacatecas, a 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 321 

province of the former Olmecas: therefore it appears that this race 
is distinct from the Azteca or Mexican nation in features as weii as 
languages : notwithstanding that some writers wrongly assert, that 
the Olmecas spoke the same language as the Astecas and Toltecas. 
The Mixes have sometimes long beards, and resemble Europeans: 
they are a tribe of Mizteeas. Thus we find by investigation that 
the nations and languages of the Mexican states are as easily re- 
duced to a small number, as those of the remainder of North Ame- 
rica. 

The theogony, cosmogony and religion of the Mizteeas arid Za- 
potecas was also very different from the Mexicans, although they 
had latterly adopted their bloody rites of the god of evil. The 
Mizteeas of Cuilapo according to a book written by a Spanish monk 
in the Mizteeas language and figures, (preserved by Gareias) as- 
cribe their origin to a god and goddess named Lion Snake and Ty- 
ger Snake dwelling in Apoala or heavenly seat of Snakes before 
the flood. They had two sons (or nations) an Eagle called Wind of 
9 Caves, and a Dragon or Winged Snake called Wind of 9 Snakes. 
They were driven from Apoala for their wickedness and perish- 
ed in a great flood. In Apoala we find the Tlapala or ancient seat 
of the Mexicans : which is perhaps the ApalacM mountains of 
Nor^ America, where was once the holy mountain, temple aid 
cave of Olaimi (see Brigstock) which name recalls to mind the Ol- 
mecas! and all these names answer in import and sound to the 
Olympus of the Greeks. 

The Zapotecas had similar but more definite ideas. Ahcabohuil 
was the Creator of all things; but a divine man and divine woman 
Xchmel and Xtmana were the progenitors of mankind and of the 
3 great gods Mad god of heaven, Baca god of earth and Chsvan 
god of bell. These 3 brothers are surprisingly alike in import and 
names with the Trimurti or triad of the Hindus, the 3 manifestations 
of the Deity Vishnu, Brama, and Shiven ! 

This same triad was worshipped in Chiapa, Yucatan, Hayti and 
many other parts of America, under names not very unlike, such as 
Izona, Vacah and Estruah in Chiapa. 
Izona, Bacab and Echvah in Yucatan. 
Bugia, Bradama and Aiba in Hayti. 
lao, lsnez and Suroki by the Apalachians. 
Yah, Wachil and Wacki by the Natchez. 

41 



322 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Quoyoh, Kiwas and Ocki in Virginia and Florida. 
Zungua, Quexuga and Haraqui by the Chicolas. 
Gorronhia, Tahuisca and Oyaron by the Hurons. 
Amane, Vaca and Vochi by the Tamanacs. 
Akambue, Ichenin and Maboya by the Caribs. 
Apu, Churi and Voqui in Peru. 
Pillian, Meulen and Wocuba in Chili. 
Nemque, Zuhe and Bochica by the Muyzcas. 
Guipanavi, Avari and Caveri by the Maipuris. 
Aygnan, Tupan and Mabira in Brazil, &c. 

Are not these coincidences very surprising and interesting for the 
history of mankind and of their religions ? They will appear still 
more so if we compare them with the different triads of Asia and 
other parts. Sometimes the Asiatic names are more dissimilar be- 
tween themselves than the American, or else resemble still more 
some of them, A fevy instances will be sufficient to prove this strange 
fact, 

Asiatic Triads, 
Brimha, Vistnow and Etcheves, 
Tama, Satua and Raju. 
Pramih, Bichen and Sumbreh. 
Angeor, Okar and Gun. 
Braham, Narayan and Mahesa. 
Brahima, Bala and Mahadeo. 
Brumany, Ramana and Rudra. 
Primah, Krishna and Iswara. 

The above by the Hindus in difFerent modern languages of India, 
Decan, and Indostan : which are all dialects of the Sanscrit. 
Prahma, Aug and Codon in Siam and Ava. 
Bahman, Homi and Barzoi of Iran. 
Bahman, Manister and Tamistar of the Mahabad 
Hum, Fo and Kya, of Thibet. 
Y, Hi and Vi of the Tao religion of China. 
O, Mi and To of the Fo religion of China. 
Eon, Hesu and Pur of the Phrygians. 
Samen, Phegor and Zebu of the Syrians. 
African Triads. 
Amon, Mouth and Khous of Egypt and Thebes. 
Ucharan, Ahicanac and Guayota of the Guanches. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 353 

European Triads. 

Oicus, Pan and Ath of the Cyclopians. 
Prome, Epime, and Mene of the Pelagians. 
Pan, Eros and Methusa, of the Greeks. 
Zeus, Poseidon and Hades of the Greeks. 
Ian, Aesar, and Sancus of the Etruscans. 
Ain, Aesar and Taut of the Celts. 
Bram, Amen and Vix of the Oscans, 
Kog, Om and Pax of the Eleusinian mysteries. 
Molk, Fan and Taulas of Hibernians. 
Odin, Vile and Ve of Scandinavians. 
Perun, Morski and Nya of the Slavonians. 

Polynesian Traids, 

Biruma, Vishnu and Uritram of Ceylon. 

Awun, Injo and Niwo of Japan. 

Tane, Akea and Miru of Havay. 

Tani, Uru and Taroa of Taiti, &c. &c. 

The order of these divine manifestations is -of little consequence 
and depends upon the priority of those mostly worshipped, whether 
the God of Heaven, Earth or Hell. The Hindus have now two 
sects worshipping Vishnu and Shiva, but Brama has few worshippers 
at present. 

The names would appear still more strikingly alike if they all 
meant the same ; but they often mean the past, present and future, 
or power, life and death, or the rising blazing and setting of the sun 
or some other consimilar ideas instead of heaven, earth and. hell, 
although they always apply to the triple manifestations of the Deity 
distinguished and personified in creation, preservation and destruc- 
tion. This subject which might be pursued much further, may in- 
dicate a primitive conformity of religious ideas in mankind all over 
the world. 

Seventeen languages and dialects of Anahuac or the Mexican 
states are said to have been reduced to grammars and dictionaries by 
the Spanish missionaries ; Vater and the ether philologists do not 
appear to have known them all. In order to draw thereon the at- 
tention of those who dwell in Mexico, I shall attempt to enumerate 
all the Mexican dialects under 4 series: 1 well known, 2 little known, 
3 hardly known and 4 totally unknown to the learned and historians. 



324 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

It will be obvious that the 2 latter series require chiefly the at- 
tention of those who may have the opportunity to travel or dwell 
in M' xico. 

1st Series.-— Languages or dialects well known of which we 
have ample vocabularies and grammars known to the learned : — 
A zteea or true Mexican, Otomi, Mizteca, Maya, Cora, Totonaca, 
Pima, Poconchi — 8. 

2d Series. — Little known to the learned at least, but well known 
in Mexico as there are grammars &c. of them : — Tarasca, Hnaste- 
ca, Yaqui, Popoluca, Matlazinca, Mixe, Kiche, Chachiquel, Tara- 
humanij Tepehuanan, &c. — 10. Of these I have procured already 
ample vocabularies of the two first- 

3d Series. — Hardly known, of which we possess as yet but few 
words : — Zapctecas, Zacatecas, Choi, Chontal, Pininda, Opata, 
Endeve, Quelene, &c. — 8. 

4th Series. — Quite unknown for lack of materials, although they 
are yet spoken languages, and some are but dialects of those above. 
Uflateca, Cohuichi, Tlahuichij Zoque, Mame, Chiapaneca, Cho- 
chona, Mizateca, Cuiscateca, Popaloava, Tubar, Yumas, Seres, 
Moba, &c-— 14. Besides many dialects of California, Texas and 
New Mexico'. 

Although they may be mere dialects it is needful and desirable 
to have materials on each, so as to reduce this to a certainty and to 
tra^e their mutual analogies or deviations, as well as the probable 
time of the separation of the tribes. 

These 40 Mexican dialects will thus be reduced very probably 
to 5 or 6 primitive languages, as those of the United States have 
already been reduced to seven, the Onguy, Lenih, Shacth, Otaly, 
Capaha, Skere, and Nachez, by myself in the manuscript history 
of the American nations. And in the whole of North and South 
America hardly 25 original languages and nations are met with, al- 
though actually divided in 1500 tribes and dialects ; as the actual 
European languages, only 6 in number originally, are now divided 
in>o 600 dialects, some of which are even deemed peculiar lan- 
guages at present. 

Thus these original or mother languages of Europe are the Pe- 
lagian, Celtic, Cantabrian, Teutonic or Gothic, Thracian or Sla- 
vonian, and Finnish. And out of the Gothic have sprung the 
English, Dutch, German, Danish, Swedish, &c which were once 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 325 

mere dialects, bat are now become languages, having many dia- 
lects of their own. 



Primitive Origin of the English Language. 
By C. S. Rafinesque. 

The best work on the philosophy and affinities of the English 
language is, at present, the Introduction, by Noah Webster, to his 
great dictionary. Yet although he has taken enlarged views of 
the subject, and by far surpassed every predecessor, he has left 
much to do to those future philologists and philosophers who may 
be inclined to pursue the subject still farther : not having traced 
the English language to its primitive sources, nor through all its 
variations and anomalies. 

But no very speedy addition to this knowledge is likely tb be 
produced, since Mr. Webster has stated, in a letter inserted in the 
Genesee Farmer of March, 1832, (written to vindicate some of his 
improvements in orthography,) that no one has been found in 
America or England able to review his Introduction ! although 
many have been applied to ! But I was not one of those consulted, 
few knowing of my researches in languages, else I could have done 
ample justice to the subject and Mr. Webster. 

It is not now a review of his labors that I undertake, but merely 
an inquiry into the primitive origin of our language, extracted from 
my manuscript Philosophy of the English, French and Italian lan- 
guages, compared with all the oilier languages or dialects of the 
whole world, not less than 3000 in number. 

The. modern English has really only one immediate parent. 
The old English, such as it was spoken and written in England, 
between the years 1000 and 1500, lasting about five hundred 
years, which is the usual duration of fluctuating languages. Our 
actual English is a natural deviation or dialect of it, begun between 
1475 and 1525, and gradually improved and polished under two 
different forms, the written English and the spoken English, which 
are as different from each other as the English from the French. 
These two forms have received great accession by the increase of 
knowledge, and borrowing from many akin languages words un- 
known to the old English. They are both subject yet to fluctua- 



326 



AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



tions of orthography and pronunciation, which gradually modify 
them again. 

The old English existed probably also under these two forms, 
and had several contemporaneous dialects, as the modern English, 
of which the Yorkshire and Scotch dialects are most striking in 
Europe, while Guyana, Creole and West-India Creole, are the 
most remarkable in America. Another dialect, filled with Bengali 
and Hindostani words, is also forming in the East-Indies. 

A complete comparison of the old and modern English has not 
yet been given. A few striking examples will here be inserted as 
a specimen of disparity. 



Written. 


Written. 


Spoken. 


Old English 


Mod. English. 


Mod. English. 


Londe 


Lande 


Land 


Sterre 


Star 


Star 


Erthe 


Earth 


Erthe 


Yle 


Island 


Ailend 


See 


Sea 


Si 


Benethen 


Beneath 


Binith 


Hevvyn 


Heaven 


Hevn 


Hedde 


Head 


Hed 


As late as the year 1555, we find the English language very dif- 


ferent from the actual, 


at least in orthography; for instance, 


Eng. o/1555. 


Writ. Mod. Eng. 


Spok. Mod. Eng. 


Preste 


Priest 


Prist 


Euyll 


Evil 


Ivl 


Youe 


You 


Yu 


Fyer 


Fire 


Fayer 


Howse 


House 


Haus 



This old English is supposed to have sprung from the amalga- 
mation of three languages : British-Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and Nor- 
man-French, between the years 1000 and 1200. This has been 
well proved by many, and I take it for granted. 

But the successive parents and the genealogies of the Celtic, 
Saxon and Norman, are not so well understood. Yet through their 
successive and gradual dialects springing from each other, are to 
be traced the anomalies and affinities of all the modern languages 
ot western Europe. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 327 

By this investigation it is found that these three parents of the 
English, instead of beiDg remote and distinct languages, were them- 
selves brothers, sprung from a common primitive source, having 
undergone fluctuations and chauges every 500 or 1000 years. For 
instance, the Latin of the time of Romulus, was quite a different 
language from that spoken in the time of Augustus, although this 
was the child of the former, this of the Ausonian, &c. 

The following table will illustrate this fact, and the subsequent 
remarks prove it. 

I. Old English sprung partly from the British- Celtic. 

2d Step British Celtic of Great Britain, sprung from the Celtic 
of West Europe. 

2d Step. This Celtic from the Cumric or Kimran of Europe. 
4th Step. The Cumric from the Gomerian of Western Asia. 
5th Step. The Gomerian from the Yavana of Central Asia. 
6th Step. The Yavana was a dialect of the Sanscrit. 

II. The Old English partly sprung from the Anglo-Saxon of 
Britain, 

2d Step. The Anglo-Saxon sprung from Saxon or Sacacenas of 
Germany. 

3d Step. The Saxon from the Teutonic or Gothic of Europe. 

4th Step. The Teutonic from the Getic of East Europe. 

5th Step. The Getic from the Tiras or Tharaca of West Asia. 
(Thracians of the Greeks.) 

6th Step. The Tiras from the Cutic or Saca of Central Asia, 
called Scythian by the Greeks. 

7th Step. The Saca was a branch of the Sanscrit. 
III. Old Englishpartly sprung from the Norman French. 

2d Step. The Norman French was sprung from the Romanic of 
France. 

3d Step. The Romanic from the Celtic, Teutonic and Roman 
Latin. 

4th Step. Roman Latin from the Latin of Romulus. 

5th Step. The Latin from the Ausonian of Italy. 

6th Step. The Ausonian from the Pelagic of Greece and West 
Asia. 

7th Step. The Pelagic from the Palangsha or Pali of Central 
A.sia. 

8th Step. The Pali was a branch of the Sanscrit. 



328 



AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



Thus we see all the sources of the English language concen- 
trating by gradual steps into the Sanscrit, one of the oldest lan- 
guages of Central Asia, which has spread its branches all over the 
globe. Being the original language of that race of men, fathers of 
the Hindus, Persians, Europeans and Polynesians. 

All the affinities between English and Sanscrit, are direct and 
striking;, notwithstanding many deviations, and the lapse of ages. 
While those between the English and other primitive languages, 
such as Chinese, Mongol, Arabic, Hebrew, Coptic, Berber, &c, 
are much less in number and importance ; being probably derived 
from the natural primitive analogy of those languages with the 
Sanrcrit itself, when all the languages in Asia were intimately 
connected. 

Many authors have studied and unfolded the English analogies 
with many languages ; but few if any have ever stated their nu- 
merical amount Unless this is done we can never ascertain tbi 
relative amount of mutual affinities. It would be a very laborious 
and tedious task to count those enumerated in Webster's Dictiona- 
ry. My numerical rule affords a very easy mode to calculate this 
amount without much trouble. 

Thus, to find the amount of affinities between English and Latin, 
let us take ten important words at random in each. 
Writ. Eng, 
Woman 
tfWater 
f Earth 
|God 
ttSoul 
One 

ttHouse 
|Moon 
Star 
t|Good 

We thereby find three affinities in ten, or 30 per cent ; as man| 
analogies or semi-affinities, marked |, equal to 15 per cent more| 
and four words, or 40 per cent, have no affinities. ' This will pre 
bably be found a fair average of the mutual rate in the old Englisl 
but the modern has received so many Latin synonyms as to excee 
perhaps this rate. 



Spok. Eng. 


Latin. 


Vumehn 


Femina 


Vuater 


Aqua 


Erth 


Terra 


God 


Deus 


Sol 


Anima 


Uahn 


Unum 


Haus 


Domus 


Muhn 


Luna 


Star 


Aster 


Good 


Bonus 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 829 

'Of these analogies it is remarkable that most are not direct from 
'the Latin, or even through the French ; but are of Saxon origin, 
which had them with the Latin previously. 

Thus the affinities between the English and Greek or Russian, 
are derived through the Pelagic and Thracian s unless lately- 
adopted. 

Boxhorn and Lipsius first noticed the great affinities of words 
and grammar between the Persian and German dialects. Twenty- 
five German writers have written on this. But Weston, in a very 
Tare work, printed at Calcutta, in 1816, on the conformity of the 
English and European languages with the Persian, has much en- 
larged the subject, and has given as many as 480 consimilar words 
between Persian and Latin, Greek, English, Gothic and Celtic: 
but he has not stated the numerical amount of these affinities. All 
this is not surprising, since the Iranians or Persians were also a 
branch of Hindus, and this language a child of the Zend, a dialect 
of the Sanscrit. Hammer has found as many as 560 affinities be- 
tween German and Persian. 

But the late work of Col. Kennedy, "Researches on the Origin 
<md Affinity of the principal Languages of Asia and Europe," Lon- 
don, 1828, 4to., is the most important, as directly concerning this 
investigation ; notwithstanding that he has ventured on several 
gratuitous assertions, and has many omissions of consequence. 

Kennedy states that the Sanscrit has 2500 verbal roots, but only 
566 have distinct meanings ; while each admitting of 25 suffixes, 
they form 60,000 words, and as they are susceptible of 958 incre- 
ments, as many as 1,395,000 words may be said to exist in this 
wonderful language. 

Yet out of these 2500 roots, as many as 900 are found by Ken- 
nedy in the Persian and European languages, although the Greek 
has only 2200 roots, and the Latin 2400. Of these 900 affinities 
339 are found in the Greek, 
319 in Latin, 
265 in Persian, 
262 in German, 
251 in English, 
527 in Greek or Latin, 
181 in both German and English, 
31 in all the five languages. 
42 



330 



AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



This is something positive and numerical ; but unfortunately 
not definite, and partly erroneous, as will be proved presently for 
the English. Kennedy denies affinities between the Celtic and 
Sanscrit ; but the very words he has offered as examples, (only 
100,) offer many evident affinities. His opinion that the Hindus 
and Egyptians came from the Babylonians, is very improbable. It 
was from the high table land of Central Asia that all the old na- 
tions came. 

The 251 English affinities may be seen in Kennedy, as well as 
the 339 Latin, which are mostly found now also in English through 
the words derived from the Latin. These two united would be 
590 or more already than the 566 separate meaniags of the San- 
scrit roots. But Kennedy has by no means exhausted the Sanscrit 
etymologies of the English. Although I have no English Sanscrit 
dictionary at hand, yet I have many Sanscrit vocabularies, where 
I find many words omitted by Kennedy. And what is not found 
in the Sanscrit itself, is found in its eastern children, the modern 
languages of Hindostan. 

Among my vocabularies, the most important is one made by my- 
self, of the principal words of the old Sanscrit, met with and ex- 
plained in the laws of Menu transiated by Jones. In these old and 
->ften and obsolete words are found the most striking affinities of 
•which I here give the greater part. 



English, 
Written 

Mother 


Spoken. 
Mother 


Old Sanscrit 
of Menu* 

Mara 


Mind 


Maind 


Men 


Mankind 


Mehnkaind 


Manavah 


Era 


Ira 


Antara • 


Hour 


Hauer 


Hora 


Virtuous 


Vsertius 


Verta 


Antique 
Beetle 


Antic 
BitI 


Arti 
Blatta 


Penny 

Gas 


Peni 
Gas 


Pana 
Akasa 


Father 


Father 


Vasus 


Play 

Malice (sin) 
Patriarch 


' Pie 
Malis 
Patriark 


Waya 
Mala 

Patri 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST 



331 



English. Old Sanscrit. 

* Written. Spoken of Menu. 

Middle Midi Medhya 

Teacher - Ticher Acharya 

Bos (master) Bos Bhos 

Before Bifor Pur/a 

Wind Vuind Pavana 

Deity Deiti Daitya 

Mouth Mauth Muc'ha 

Eyes Aiz Eshas 

Right Rait Rita 

Phantom Fantom Vantasa 

Wood Vud Venu 

Me, mine Mi, Man 

Animate Animet Mahat 

Spirit Spirit Eshetra 

Being twenty-eight derivated words out of eighty-four of this 
old vocabulary, 33 per cent. 

Another very singular vocabulary I have extracted from the 
transactions of the Literary Society of Bombay, and Erskine's ac- 
count of the Ancient Mahabad Religion of Balk from the book De- 
satir. Some words are given there of the language of the Maha- 
bad empire, the primitive Iran, which appears to be a very early 
dialect of the Sanscrit and Zend. Out of thirty Words twelve have 
analogies to the English, equal to 40 per cent. 



English. 




Mahabad. 


Written. 


Spoken. 


of Iran. 


Father 


Father 


Fiter 


End 


End 


Antan 


Course 


Kors 


Kur (time) 


Nigh 


Nay 


Unim 


Amical 


Amikal 


Mitr (friend) 


Globe 


Glob 


Gul 


Middle 


Midi 


Mad 


Sky 


Skay 


Kas 


Royal 


Royal 


Raka (king) 


Ignate 


Ignet 


Agai (fire) 


Man 


Mehn 


Minhush 


Donation 


Doneshiohn 


Datisur 



332 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

I could add here at least 250 to the 251 of Kennedy, if it were 
not too tedious and long. But I can safely vouch that all the 566 
radical roots of peculiar meaning, forming the hase of the Sanscrit, 
are to be found in the English roots, or if a few are lacking it is 
merely owing to some having become obsolete through the lapse of 
nearly 5000 years, when the Yavanas, Sacas and Pallis separated 
from their Hindu brethren, and the revolution of six or seven suc- 
cessive dialects formed by each, till they met again in the English. 
Kennedy has even some obsolete English and Scotch words, now 
out of use, which are derived from the Sanscrit. 

This inquiry is not merely useful to unfold the origin and revo- 
lutions of our language ; but it applies more or less to all the lan- 
guages of Europe ; which were formed in a similar way by dialects 
of former languages. Since every dialect becomes a language 
whenever it is widely spread and cultivated by a polished nation. 
Thus the French, Italian, Spanish Portuguese, Romanic and Vala- 
quian are now become languages, with new dialects of their own, 
although they are in fact mere dialects of the Latin and Celtic. 

The physical conformation and features of all the European and 
Hindu nations are well known to agree, and naturalists consider 
them as a common race. The historical traditions of these nations 
confirm the philological and physical evidence. Ail the European 
nations came from the east or the west of the Imaus table land of 
Asia, the seat of the ancient Hindu empires of Balk, Cashmir and 
Iran. The order of time in which the Asiatic nations entered Eu- 
rope to colonize it was as follows : 

1. or most ancient. Esquas or Oscans or Iberians or Cantabrians* 

2. Gomarians or Cumras or Celts or Gaels. 

3. Geies or Goths or Scutans or Scythians. 

4. Finns or Laps or Sanies. 

5. Tiras or Thracians or Illyrians or Slaves. 

6. Pallis or Pelasgians or Hellenes or Greeks. 

The settlement in Europe of these last is so remote as to be in- 
volved in obscurity. But their geographical positions, traditions 
and languages prove their relative antiquity. The Greek language 
is one of those that has been most permanent, having lasted 2500 
years, from Homer's time to the Turkish conquest. Yet it sprung 
from the Pelagie and has given birth to the Romaic or modern 
Greek dialects. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 333 



COLONIES OF THE DANES IN AMERICA. 

But besides the evidences that the Malay, Australasian and 
Polynesian tribes of the Pacific islands, have, in remote ages, peo- 
pled America, from the west; coming, first of all, from the Asiatic 
shores of that ocean ; and also from the east, peopling the island 
Atalantis, (equally early, as we believe,) once situated between 
America and Europe, and from this to the continent ; yet there is 
another class of antiquities, or race of population, which, says Dr. 
Mitchell, deserves particularly to be noticed. 6 * These are the emi- 
grants from Lapland, Norway, and Finland ; the remotest latitude 
north of Europe, " who, before the tenth century, settled them- 
selves in Greenland, and passed over to Labrador. It is recorded 
that these adventurers settled themselves in a country which they 
called Vinland." 

Our learned regent, Gov. De Witt Clinton, says Dr. Mitchell, 
who has out-done Governeur Golden, by writing the most full and 
able history of the Iroquois, or Five Nations, of New- York, men- 
tioned to me his belief that a part of the old forts and other antiqui- 
ties at Onondaga, about Auburn 3 and the adjacent country, were of 
Danish character. 

" I was at once penetrated by the justice of his remark ; an ad- 
ditional window of light was suddenly opened to my view on this 
subject. I perceived at once, with the Rev. Van Troil, that the 
European emigrants had passed, during the horrible commotions of 
the ninth and tenth century, to Iceland. See History of Eugland. 

The Rev. Mr. Crantz had informed me, in his important book, 
how they went to Greenland. I thought I could trace the people 
of Scandinavia to the banks of the St. Lawrence ; I supposed my 
friends had seen the Punic inscriptions made by them here and 
here, in the places where they visited. Madoc, prince of Wales, 
and his Cambrian followers, appeared, to my recollection, among 
:hese bands of adventurers. And thus the northern lands of North 
A.merica were visited by the hyperborean tribes from the north- 
^vestermost climates of Europe ; and the northwestern climes of 



334 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

North America had received inhabitants of the same race from the 
northeastern regions of Asia. 

The Danes, Fins, or Germans, and Welchmen, performing their 
migrations gradually to the southwest, seem to have penetrated to 
the country situated in the south of Lake Ontario," which would 
be in the states of New- York and Pennsylvania, " and to have 
fortifi d themselves there ; where the Tartars, or Samoieds, travel- 
ling, by slow degrees, from Alaska, on the Pacific, to the southeast, 
finally found them. 

In their course, these Asian colonists probably exterminated the 
Malays, who had penetrated along the Ohio audits streams, or 
drove them to caverns abounding in saltpetre and copperas, in Ken 
tucky and Tennessee ; where their bodies, accompanied with cloths 
and ornaments of their peculiar manufacture, have been repeated- 
ly disinterred and examined by the members of the American An- 
tiquarian Society. 

Having achieved this conquest, the Tartars and their descend- 
ants, had, probably, a mu'h harder task to perform. This was to 
subdue the more ferociot/s and warlike European colonists, who 
had intrenched and fortified themselves in the country, after the 
arrival of the Tartars, or Indians, as they are now called, in the 
particular parts they had settled themselves in, along the region of 
the Atlantic. 

In Pompey, Onondaga county, are the remcins, or outlines, of a 
town, including more than five hundred acres. It appeared pro- 
tected by three circular or elliptical forts, eight miles distant from 
each other ; placed in such relative positions as to form a triangle 
round about the town, at those distances- 
It is thought, from appearances, that this strong hold was stormed 
and taken on the line of the north side. In CamilJus, in the same 
county, are the remains of two forts, one covering about three 
acres, on a very high hill ; it had gateways, one opening to the east 
and the other to the west, toward a spring some rods from the 
works; its shape is elliptical ; it has a wall, in some places ten feet 
high, with a deep diteh. Not far from this is another exactly like it 
only half as large. There are many of these ancient works here- 
abouts ; one in Scipio, two near Auburn, three near Canandaigua, 
and several between the Seneca and Cayuga Lakes. A number of 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 335 

such fortifications and burial places have also, been discovered in 
Ridgeway, or the southern shore of Lake Ontario. 

There is evidence enough that long and bloody wars were waged 
among the inhabitants, in which the Scandinavians, or Esquimaux, 
as they are now called, seem to have been overpowered and de- 
stroyed in New- York. The survivors of the defeat aid ruin re- 
treated to Labrador," — a country lying between Hudson's bay and 
the Atlantic ; in latitude 50 and 60 degrees norih, where they have 
remained secure from further pursuit. 

From the known ferocity of the ancient Scandinavians, who 
with other Europeans of ancient times we suppose to be the au- 
thors of the vast works about iue region of Onondaga, dreadful 
wars, with infinite butcheries, must have crimsoned every hill and 
dale of this now happy country. 

In corroboration of this opinion, we give the following, which 
is an extract from remarks made on the ancient customs ofthe Scan- 
dinavians, by Adam Clarke, in a volume entitled, " Clarke's Dis- 
covery," page 145. 

1st Odin, or Woden, their supreme god, is there termed the 
terrible or severe deity ; the father of slaughter, who carries deso- 
lation and fire; the tumultuous and roaring deity; the giver of 
courage and victory ; he who marks out who shall perish in battle ; 
the sheader of the blood of man. From him is the fourth day of 
our week, denominated Wodensday, or Wednesday. 

2d. Frigga, or Frega : she was his consort, called also Ferorthe, 
mother Earth. She was the goddess of love and debauchery — the 
northern Venus. She was also a warrior, and divided the souls of 
the slain with her husband,. Odin. From her we have our Friday, 
or Freya's day ; as on that day she was peculiarly worshipped ; as 
was Odin on Wednesday. ' 

3d. Thor, the god of winds and tempests, thunder and lightning. 
He was the especial object of worship in Norway, Iceland, and con- 
sequently in the Zetiaad isles. From him we have the name of. 
our fifth day, Thor's day or Thursday. 

4th. Tri> the god who protects houses. His day of worship was 
called Tyrsdays, or Tiiesday, whence our Tuesday. As to our 
first and second -day, Sunday and Monday, they derived their names 
from the Sun and the Moon, to whose worship ancient idolaters 
had consecrated them." ■ • 



336 American antiquities 

From this we learn that they had a knowledge of a small cycle 
of time, called a week of seven days, and must have been derived, 
in some way, from the ancient Hebrew scriptures, as here we have 
the first intimation of this division of time. But among the Mexi- 
cans no trait of a cycle of seven days is found, says Humboldt ; 
which we consider an additional evidence that the first people who 
found their way to these Tegions, called North and South America, 
left Asia at a period anterior at least to the time of Moses ; which 
was full 1600 years before Christ. 

But we continue the quotation : "All who die in battle go to Vall- 
palla, Odin's palace, where they amuse themselves by going 
through their martial exercises ; then cutting each other to pieces ; 
afterwards, all the parts healing, they sit down to their feasts, 
where they quaff beer out of the skulls of those whom they had 
slain in battle, and whose blood they had before drank out of the 
same skulls, when they had slain them. 

The Scandinavians offered different kinds of sacrifices, but espe- 
cially human ; and from these they drew their auguries, by the 
velocity with which the blood flowed, when they cut their throats, 
and from the appearance of the intestines, and especially the heart. 
It was a custom in Denmark to offer annually, in January, a sacri- 
fice of ninety-nine-cocks, ninety-nine dogs, ninety-nine horses, and 
ninety-nine men ; besides other human sacrifices," on various oc- 
casions. " 

Such being the fact, it is fairly presumable that as the Danes, 
Scandinavians, and Lapponiac nations, found their way from the 
north of Europe to Iceland, Greenland and Labrador ; and from 
thence about the regions of the western lakes, especially Ontario ; 
that the terrific worship of the Celtic gods, has been practised in 
America, at least in the State of New- York. And it is not impos- 
sible but this custom may have pervaded the whole continent, for 
the name of one of these very gods, namely Odin, is found among 
the South Americans, and the tops of the pyramids may have been 
the altars of sacrifice. . 

u We have already fixed the attention of the reader," says Baron 
Humboldt, " on Votan, or Wodan, an American, who seems to be 
a member of the same family with the Woads, or Odins, of the 
Goths, and nations of the Celtic origin." 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 337 

The same names, he says, are celebrated in India, Scandinavia, 
and Mexico, all of which is, by tradition, believed to point to none 
other than to Noah and his sons. For, according to the traditions 
of the Mexicans, as collected by Bishop Francis Nunez de la Vega, 
their Wodan was grandson to that illustrious old man, who, at the 
time of the great deluge, was saved on a raft with his family. He 
was also at the building of the great edifice, and co-operated with 
the builder, which had been undertaken by men to reach the skies. 
The execution of this rash project was interrupted ; each family 
receiving from that time a different language ; when the Great 
Spirit, or Teatl, ordered Wodan to go and people the country of 
Anahuac, which is in America. 

" Think (says Dr. Mitchell) what a memorable spot is our On- 
ondaga, where men of the Malay race, from the southwest, and 
of the Tartar blood from the northwest, and of the Gothic stock 
from the northeast, have successively contended for the supremacv 
and rule, and which may be considered as having been possessed 
by each long enough before " Columbus was born, or the navigat- 
ing of the western ocean thought ©f. 

"John De Let, a Flemish writer, says, that Madoc, one of the 
sons of Prince Owen Gycnith, being disgusted with the civil wars 
which broke out between his brothers, after the death of their 
father, fitted out several vessels, and having provided them with 
every thing necessary for a long voyage, went in quest of new lands 
to the westward of Ireland. There he discovered very fertile coun- 
tries," where he settled ; and it is very probable Onondaga, and 
the country along the St. Lawrence, and around Lakes Ontario and 
Erie, were the regions of their improvements. — Carver, p. 108. 

" We learn from the historian Charlevoix, that the Eries, an in- 
digenous nation of the Malay race, who formerly inhabited the 
lands south of Lake Erie, where the western district of Pennsyl- 
vania and the state of Ohio now are. And Lewis Evens, a former 
resident of the city of New-Yoik, has shown us in his map of the 
Middle Colonies, that the hunting grounds of the Iroquois extend- 
ed over that very region. The Iroquois were of the Tartar stock, 
and they converted the country of the exterminated Eries or Ma- 
lays, into a range for the wild beasts of the west, and a region for 
their own hunters." 

43 



338 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

He says, the Scandinavians emigrated about the tenth century of 
the Christian era, if not earlier ; and that they may be considered as 
not only having discovered this continent, but to have explored its 
northern climes to a great extent, and also to have peopled them. 

In the fourteenth township, fourth range of the Holland Compa- 
ny's lands in the state of New- York, near the Ridge road leading 
from Buffalo to Niagara Falls, is an ancient fort, situated in a large 
swamp j it covers about five acres of ground ; large trees are stand- 
ing upon it. The earth which forms this fort was evidently brought 
from a distance, as that the soil of the marsh is quite of another 
kind, wet and miry, while the site of the fort is dry gravel and 
loam. The site of this fortification is singular, unless we suppose 
it to have been a last resort or hiding place from an enemy. 

The distance to the margin of the marsh is about half a mile, 
where large quantities of human bones have been found, on open- 
ing the earth, of an extraordinary size : the thigh bones, about two 
inches longer than a common sized man's : the jaw or chin bone 
will cover a large man's face : the skull bones are of an enormous 
thickness : the breast and hip bones are also very large. On be- 
ing exposed to the air they soon moulder away, which denotes the 
great length of time since their interment. The disorderly manner 
in which these bones were found to lie, being crosswise, commixed 
and mingled with every trait of confusion, show them to have been 
deposited by a conquering enemy, and not by friends, who would 
have laid them, as the custom of all nations always has been, in a 
more deferential mode. 

There was no appearance of a bullet having been the instrument 
of their destruction, the evidence of which would have been bro- 
ken limbs. Smaller works of the same kind abound in the coun- 
try about Lake Ontario, but the one of which we have just spoken 
is the most remarkable. This work, it is likely, was a last effort 
of the Scandinavians. 

North of the mountain, or great slope toward the lake, there are 
no remains of ancient works or tumuli, which strongly argues, that 
the mountain or ridge way once was the southern boundary or shore 
of lake Ontario : The waters having receded from three to seven 
m ; les from its ancient shore, nearly tlie whole length of the lake, 
occasioned by some strange convulsion in nature, redeeming much 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 339 

of the lands of the west from the water that had covered it from the 
time of the deluge. 

The following is the opinion of Morse, the geographer, on the 
curious subject of the original inhabitants or population of America. 
He says, " without detailing the numerous opinions of philosophers, 
respecting the original population of this continent, he will, in few 
words, state the result of his own inquiries on the subject, and the 
facts from which the result is deduced. 

<; The Greenlanders and Esquimaux," which are one in origin, 
" were emigrants from the northwest of Europe," which is Nor- 
way and Lapland. A colony of Norwegians was planted in Ice- 
land, in 874, which is almost a thousand years ago. Greenland, 
which is separated from the American continent only by Davis' 
Strait, which, in several places, is of no great width, was settled by 
Eric Rufus, a young Norwegian, in 982 ; and before the 11th cen- 
tury, churches were founded and a bishopric erected, at Grade, the 
capital of the settlement. 

Soon after this, Bairn, an Icelandic navigator, by accident, dis- 
covered land to the west of Greenland. This land received the 
name of Vineland. It was settled by a colony of Norwegians in 
1002, and from the description given of its situation and produc- 
tions, must have been Labrador, which is on the American conti- 
nent, or Newfoundland*, which is but a little way from the conti- 
nent, separated by the narrow strait of Bellisle, at the north end of 
the Gulf of St. Lawrence, a river of Canada. Vineland was west 
of Greenland, and not very far to the south of it. It also produced 
grape vines spontaneously. Mr. Elis, in his voyage to Hudson's 
Bay, informs us that the vine grows spontaneously at Labrador, and 
compares the fruit of it to the currants of the Levant. 

Several missionaries of the Moravians, prompted by a zeal for 
propagating Christianity, settled in Greenland ; from whom we 
learn that the Esquimaux perfectly resemble the natives of the two 
countries, and have intercourse with one another ; that a few sail- 
ors, who had acquired the knowledge of a few Greenland words, 
reported, that these were understood by the Esquimaux ; that at 
length a Moravian missionary, well acquainted with the language 
of Greenland, having visited the country of the Esquimaux, found 
to his astonishment that they spoke the same language with the 
Greenlanders ;" which of course was the same with the language 



340 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

of Iceland, and also of Norway, which is in Europe, lying along on 
the coast of the Atlantic ; as that the first colony of Iceland was 
from Norway, and Iceland a first colony settled on Greenland, 
from thence to Labrador, which is the continent ; showing that the 
language of the Esquimaux is that of the ancient Norse of Europe, 
derived from the more ancient Celtic nations, who were derived 
from the descendants of Japheth, the son of Noah; from which we 
perceive that both from country and lineal descent, the present in- 
habitants are brothers to the Esquimaux (Indians, as they are im- 
properly called) who also are white, and not copper colored, like 
the red men, or common Indians, who are of the Tartar stock. 

The missionary found, " that there was abundant evidence of 
their being of the same race, and he was accordingly received and 
entertained by them as a friend and brother." These facts prove 
the settlement of Greenland by an Icelandic colony, and the con- 
sanguinity of the Greenlanders and Esquimaux. 

Iceland is only about one thousand miles west from Norway, in 
Europe, with more than twenty islands between ; so that there is 
no difficulty in the way of this history to render it improbable that 
the early navigators from Norway may have easily found Iceland, 
and colonized it. 

" The enterprize, skill in navigation, even without the compass, 
and roving habits, possessed by these early navigators, renders it 
highly probable also, that at some period more remote than the 10th 
century, they had pursued the same route to Greenland, and plant- 
ed colonies there, which is but six hundred miles west of Iceland. 
Their descendants the present Greenlanders and Esquimaux, re- 
taining somewhat of the enterprize of their ancestors, have always 
preserved a communication with each other, by crossing and re- 
crossing Davis's Strait. The distance of oceaa between Ame- 
rica and Europe on the east, or America and China on the west, is 
no objection to the passage of navigators, either from design or 
stress of weather; as that Coxe, in his Russian Discoveries, men- 
tions that several Kamschadale vessels, in 1745, were driven out 
to sea, and forced, by stress of weather, to take shelter amoDg the 
Aleutian islands, in the Pacific, a distance of several hundred mii^s ; 
and also Captain Cook, in one of his voyages, found some natives 
of one of the islands of the same ocean, in their war canoes, six 
Jiundred miles from land." — Morse , 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 341 

In the year 1789, Captain Bligh was sent out under the direction 
of the government of England, to the Friendly Islands, in the Pa- 
cific, in quest of the bread fruit plant, with the view of planting it 
in the West Indies. 

But having got into the Pacific ocean, his crew mutined, and 
put him, with eighteen of his men, on board of a boat of but thirty- 
two feet in length, with one hundred and fifty pounds of bread, 
twenty-eight gallons of water, twenty pounds of pork, three bottles 
of wine and fifteen quarts of rum. With this scanty provision he 
was turned adrift in the open sea, when the vessel sailed, and left 
them to their fate. Captain Bligh then sailed for the island of To- 
foa, but being resisted by the islanders with stones, and threatened 
with death, was compelled to steer from mere recollection, (for he 
was acquainted with those parts of that ocean,) lor a port in the 
East Indies called Tima, belonging to the Dutch. He had been 
with the noted Captain Cook, in his voyages. The reason the na- 
tives were so bold as to pelt them with stones as they attempted to 
land, was because they perceived them to be without arms. This 
voyage, however, they performed in forty-six days, suffering in 
a most incredible manner, a distance of four thousand miles, losing 
but one man, who was killed by the stones of the savages, in at- 
tempting to get clear from the shore of an island, where they had 
landed to look for water. 

" In 1797, the slaves of a ship from the coast of Africa, having 
risen on the crew, twelve of the latter leaped into a boat, and made 
their escape. On the thirty-eighth day three still survived, and 
drifted ashore at Barbadoes, in the West Indies. 

In 1799, six men in a boat from St Helena, lost their course, 
and nearly a month after, five of them surviving, reached the coast 
of South America, a distance of two thousand seven hundred and 
sixty miles." — Thomas'' Travels, p. 283. 

This author, Mr. David Thomas, whose work was published at 
Auburn, 1819, is of the opinion that " the Mexicans and Peruvians 
derived their origin in arriving in wrecks from the sea coast without 
the Strait of Gibraltar, soon after the commencement of navigation, 
driven thither by the current and trade winds." 

But as to the Peruvians, being originally from about the Medi- 
terranean, we should suppose rather improbable, as that Peru is situ- 



342 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

ated on the Pacific in South America, and Mexico on the Pacific in 
North America 

It would have been more natural for them to have fixed their 
abode where they first landed, rather than to have travelled across 
the continent. The Peravians were doubtless from China origin- 
ally, and the Mexicans from a more northern region, Mongol, Tar- 
tary and the Japan islands. 

He says, "If we consider in what an early age navigation was 
practised, and consequently how soon after that era America would 
receive inhabitants within its torrid zone, it will appear probable 
that the Mexicans were a great nation before either the Tartars or 
Esquimaux arrived on the northern part of this continent." 

Navigation was indeed commenced at an early age, by the 
Egyptians and Phoenicians, probably more than sixteen hundred 
years before the time of Christ, (See Morse's Chronology,*) and 
doubtless, from time to time, as in later ages, arrivals, either from 
design or from being driven to sea by storm, took place, so that 
Egyptians, Phoenicians, and individuals of other nations of that age, 
unquestionably found their way to South America, and also to the 
southern parts of North America, from the east, and also from the 
west, across the Pacific, in shipping. 

But we entertain the opinion, that even sooner than this, the 
woods of the Americas had received inhabitants, as we have before 
endeavored to argue in this work, at a time when there was more 
land, either ia the form of islands in groups, or in bodies, ap- 
proaching to that of continents, situated both in the Pacific and At- 
lantic oceans ; but especially that of Atalantis, once in the Atlan- 
tic, between America and the coast of Gibraltar. 
* fi pn the remarks of Carver on titis subject, through the. interior 
parts of North western* America, we have the following: — "Many 
of the ancients are supposed to have known that this quarter of the 
globe not on?y existed, but also that it was inhabited." 

Plato, who wrote about five hundred years before Christ, in his 
book entitled Timaeus, has asserted that beyond the island which 
he calls Atalantis, as learned from the Egyptian priests, and. which 
according to his description was situated in the Western ocean, op- 
posite, as we have before said, to the Strait of Gibraltar, there were 
a great nuaifcer of other islands, and behind those a vast continent. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 343 

If some have affected to treat the tradition of the existence of 
this island as a chimera., we would ask, how should the priests be 
able to tell us that behind that island, farther west, was a vast con- 
tinent, which proves to be true, for that continent is America ; or 
rather, us a continent is spoken of by Plato at all a lying west of 
Europe, we are of the opinion that this fact should carry conviction 
that the island also existed, as well as the continent ; and why not 
Atalantl ? (f Plato knew of the one did he not cf the other ? 

If the Egyptian priests had told Plato that anciently there existed 
a certain island, with a continent on th3 west of it, and the Strait of 
Gibraltar on the east of it, anu it was fouiid, in succeeding ages, 
that neither the strait nor the continent were ever known to exist, it 
would be, indeed, clearly inferred, that neither was the island 
known to them. But as the strait does exist, and the western con- 
tinent also, is it very absurd to suppose that Atalahtis was indeed 
situated between these two facts, or parts of the earth now known 
to all the world ? 

Carver says that Oviedo, a celebrated Spanish author, the same 
who became the friend of Columbus, whom he accompanied on his 
second voyage to the new world, has made no scruple to a%rn, that 
the Antilles are the famous Hesperides, so often mentioned by the 
poets, which are at length restored to the King of Spain, the de- 
scendants of King Hesperus, who ^ved upwards of 3000 years ago, 
and from whom these islands received their name. 

De Laet, a Flemish writer, says it is related by Pliny the elder, 
one of the most learned of the ancient Roman writers, who was 
born twenty-three years after the time of Christ, and left behind 
him no less than thirty-seven volumes on natural history, and some 
other writers, that on many of the islands near the western coast of 
Africa, particularly on the Canaries, some ancient edifices were 
seen ; even caHed ancient by Pliny, a term which would throw the 
time of their erection back to a period perhaps five or six hundred 
years before Christ. 

" From this it is highly probable," says Mr. Carver, " that the 
inhabitants having deserted those edifices, even in the time of Pliny, 
may have passed over to South America^ the passage being neither 
long nor difficult. This migration, according to the calculation of 
those authors, must have taken place more than two hundred years 
before the Christian era, at a time when the people of Spain were 



344 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

much troubled by the Carthagenians, and might have retired to the 
Antilles, by the way of the Western Isles, which were exactly half 
way in their voyage to South America." 

Emanuel de Morez, a Portuguese, in his history of Brazil, a pro~ 
vince of South America, asserts that America has been wholly peo- 
pled by the Carthagenians and Israelites. He brings, as a proof of 
this assertion, the discoveries the former are known to have made, 
at a great distance beyond the western coast of Africa. The far- 
ther progress of which being put a stop to by the senate of Carthage 
some hundred years before Christ, those who happened to be then 
in the newly discovered countries, being cut off' from all communi- 
cations with their countrymen, and destitute of many necessaries of 
life, fell into a state of barbarism. 

George De Horn, a learned Dutchman, who has written on the 
subject of the first peopling of America, maintains that the first 
founders of the colonies of this country were Scythians, who were 
much more ancient than the Tartars, but were derived from the 
Scythians ; as the term Tartar is but of recent date when compared 
with -the far more ancient appellation of Scythian, the descendants 
of Shem, the great progenitor of the Jews. 

He also believes that the Phoenicians and Carthagenians after- 
wards got footing in America, by crossing the Atlantic, and like- 
wise the Chinese, by way of the Pacific. These Phoenician and 
Carthagenian migrations he supposes to have been before the time 
of Solomon, king of Israel, who flourished a thousand years before 
Christ. 

Mr. Thomas, of Auburn, in his volume entitled, Travels through 
the Western Country, has devoted some twenty pages to the subject 
of the ancient inhabitants of America, with ability evidencing an 
enlarged degree of acquaintance with it. He says explicitly, on 
page 288, that " the Phoenicians were early acquainted with those 
shores," " believes that vessels, sailing out of the Mediterranean, 
may have been wrecked on the American shores ; also colonies 
from the west of Europe, and from Africa, in the same way. Sup- 
poses that Egyptians and Syrians settled in Mexico ; the former 
the authors of the pyramids of South America, and that the Syrians 
are the same with the Jews; wanting nothing to complete this fact 
but the rite of circumcision. Says the Greeks were the only, or 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- • 345 

first people, who practised raising tumuli around the urns which 
contained the ashes of their heroes." 

And, as we know, tumuli are in abundance in the west, raised 
over the ashes, as we suppose, of their heroes ; should we not in- 
fer that the practice was borrowed from that people ? This would 
prove some of them, at least, originally from about the Mediter= 
ranean. 

But notwithstanding our agreement with this writer that many 
nations, the Greeks, the Egyptians, the Syrians, the Phoenicians, 
Carthagenians, Europeans, Romans, Asiatics, Scythians and Tar- 
tars, have, in different eras of time, contributed to the peopling of 
America ; yet we believe, with the great and celebrated naturalist, 
Dr. Mitchell, that the ancestors of the people known by the appel- 
lation of the Malays, now peopling the islands of the Pacific, were 
nearly among the first who set foot on the coasts of America. And 
that the people who settled on the islands of the Atlantic, and es- 
pecially that of Atalantis, now no more, immediately after the dis- 
persion, were they who, first of all, and the Malay second, filled all 
America with their descendants in the first ages. 

But in process of time, as the arts came on, navigation, with or 
without the compass, was practised, if not as systematically as at 
the present time, yet with nearly as wide a range ; and as convul- 
sions in the earth, such as divided one part of it from another, as in 
the days of Peleg, removing islands, changing the shape of conti- 
nents, and separating the inhabitants of distant places from each 
other, by destroying the land or islands between, so that when 
shipping, whether large or small, as in the time of the Phoenicians, 
Tyrians of King Solomon, the Greeks and Romans, came to navi- 
gate the seas, America was found, visited and colonized anew. In 
this way we account for the introduction of arts among the more 
ancient inhabitants whom they found there ; which arts are clearly 
spoken of in the traditions of the Mexicans, who tell us of white 
and bearded men, as related by Humboldt, who came from the 
sun, (as they supposed the Spaniards did,) changed or reduced the 
wandering millions of the woods to order and government, intro- 
duced among them the art of agriculture, a knowledge of metals, 
with that of architecture; so that when Columbus discovered 
America, it was filled with cities, towns, cultivated fields and coun- 
tries ; palaces, aqueducts, and roads, and highways of the nations, 

44 



346 * AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

equal with, if not exceeding, in some respects, even the people of 
the Roman countries, before the time of Christ. 

But as learning and a knowledge of the shape of the earth, in 
the times of the nations we have spoken of above, was not in gene- 
ral use among men ; and from incessant wars and revolutions of 
nations, what discoveries may have been made, were lost to man- 
kind ; so that some of the very countries once known, have in later 
ages been discovered over again. 

We will produce one instance of a discovery which has been 
lost— the land of Ophir — where the Tyrian fleets went for gold, in 
the days of Solomon. Where is it? The most learned do not 
know, cannot agree. It is lost as to identity. Some think it in 
Africa ; some in the islands of the South Atlantic, and some in 
South America ; and although it is, wherever it may be, undoubt- 
edly an inhabited country, yet as to certainty about its location, it 
is unknown. 



ANCIENT CHRONOLOGY OF THE ONGUYS OR IROQUOIS 

INDIANS. 

By David Cusick. 

In the traditions of the Tuscaroras published by Cusick in 1827, 

few dates are found ; but these few are, nevertheless, precious for 

history. 

A small volume has been printed this year by the Sunday School 
Union, on the History of the Delaware and the Iroquois Indians, in 
which their joint traditions are totally neglected, as usual with our 
actual book makers. 

Although Cusick's dates may be vague and doubtful, they de- 
serve attention, and they shall be noticed here. , 

Anterior to any date the Eagwehoewe, (pronounced Yayuyhohuy) 
meaning real people, dwelt north of the lakes, and formed only one 
nation. After many years a body of them settled on the river Ka- 
nawag, now the St. Lawrence, and after a long time a foreign peo- 
ple came by sea and settled south of the lake. 

First date. Towards 2500 winters before Columbus' discovery 
of America, or 1008 years before our era, total overthrow of the 
Towancas, nations of giants come from the north, by the king of th« 
Onguys, Donhtonha and the hero Yatatau. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 347 

2d. Three hundred winters after, or 708 before our era, the 
northern nations form a confederacy, appoint a king, who goes to 
visit the great Emperor of the Golden City, south of the lakes ; but 
afterwards quarrels arise, and a war of 100 years with this empire 
of the south, long civil wars in the north, &c. A body of people 
escaped in the mountain of Oswego, &c 

3d. 1500 years before Columbus, or in the year 8 of our era, 
Tarenyawagon, the first lsgislator leads his people out of the moun- 
tains to the river Yenouatateh, now Mohawk, where six tribes 
form an alliance called the Long-house, Agoneaseah. Afterwards 
reduced to five, the sixth spreading west and south. The Kautanoh 
since Tuscarora, came from this. Some went as far as the Onau- 
weyoka, now Mississippi. 

4th. In 108 the Konearawyeneh, or Flying Heads, invade the 
Five Nations. 

5th. In 242 the Shakanahih, or Stone Giants, a branch of the 
western tribe, become cannibals, return and desolate the country ; 
but they are overthrown and driven north by Tarenyawagon II. 

6th. Towards 350 Tarenyawagon III. defeats other foes, called 
Snakes. 

7th. # In 492 Atotarho I., king of the Onondagas, quells civil wars, 
begins a dynasty ruling over all the Five Nations, till Atotarho IX. 
who ruled yet in 1142. Events are since referred to their reigns. 

8th. Under Atotarho II., a Tarenyawagon IV. appears to help 
him to destroy Oyalk-guhoer, or the Big-bear. 

9th. Under Atotarho III. a tyrant, Sohnanrowah, arises on the 
Kaunaseh, now Susquehannah river, which makes war on, the Sah= 
wanug. 

10th. In 602, under Atotarho IV., the Towancas, now Mississau- 
gers, cede to the Senecas the lands east of the River Niagara, who 
settle on it. 

11th. Under Atotarho V. war between the Senecas and Otawahs 
of Sandusky. 

12th. Towards 852 under Atotarho VI. the Senecas reach the 
Ohio river, compel the Otawahs to sue for peace. 

18th. Atotarho VII. sent embassies to the west, the Kentakeh 
nation dwelt south of the Ohio, the Chipiwas on the Mississippi. 

14th. Towards 1042, under Atotarho VIII., war with the To- 
wancas, and a foreign stranger visits the Tuscaroras of Neuse river s 



348 i AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

who are divided into three tribes, and at war with the Nanticokes 
and Totalis. 

15th. In 1143, under Atotarho IX., first civil war between the 
Erians of Lake Erie, sprung from the Senecas, and the Five Na- 
tions. 

Here end these traditions. 

C. S. RAFINESQUE. 

The foregoing is a curious trait of the ancient history of the wars 
and revolutions which have transpired in America. 

It would appear that at the time of the overthrow of the Tawan- 
cas, 1008 years before Christ, called in the tradition a nation of 
giants, that it was about the time the temple of Solomon was fin- 
ished ; showing clearly that as they had become powerful in this 
country they had settled here at a very early period, probably 
about the time of Abraham, within three hundred and forty years of 
the flood. 

The hero who conquered them was called Yatatan, king of the 
Onguys, names which refer them, as to origin, to the ancient Scyth- 
ians of Asia. 

Three hundred winters after this, or 708 years before Christ, 
about the time of the commencement of the Roman empire by Rom- 
ulus, the northern nations form a grand confederacy and appoint a 
king, who went on a visit to the great emperor of the Golden city, 
south of the western lakes. 

Were we to conjecture where this Golden city was situated, we 
should say on the Mississippi, where the Missouri forms a junction 
with that river, at or near St. Louis, as at this place and around its 
precincts are the remains of an immense population. This is likely 
the city to which the seven persons who were cast away on the 
island Estotiland, as before related, were carried to ; being far to 
the southwest from that island, supposed to be Newfoundland, — St. 
Louis being in that direction. 

This visit of Yalatan to the Golden city, it appears, was the 
occasion of a civil war of one hundred years, which ended in the 
ruin of the Golden city. A body of the citizens escaping, fled far 
to the east, and hid themselves in the mountains of Oswego, along 
the southern shores of Lake Ontario, where they remained about 
seven hundred years, till a great leader arose among them, called 
Tarenyawagon, who led them to settle on the Mohawk ; this was 
eight years after the birth of Christ- 



AND DISCOVERIES IS THE WEST. 349 

These refugees from the Golden city, had now multiplied so that 
they had become several nations, whence the grand confederacy of 
six nations was formed. Upon these, a nation called Flying Heads 
made war but were unsuccessful ; also, in 242 years after Christ, a 
nation called Stone Giants, made an attempt to destroy them but 
ailed. They were successful in other wars against the Snake In- 
dians, a more western tribe. 

About the time of tho commencement of Mahomet's career in 
602, a great tyrant arose on the Susquehannah river, who waged 
war with the surrounding nations, from which it appears, that while 
in Africa, Europe, and Asia, revolution succeeded revolution, em- 
pires rising on the ruins of empires, that in America the same 
scenes were acting on as great a scale ; cultivated regions, popu- 
lous cities and towns, were reduced to a wilderness, as in the other 
continents. 



EVIDENCE THAT A NATION OF AFRICANS, THE DESCEND- 
ANTS OF HAM, NOW INHABIT A DISTRICT OF S. AMERICA. 

By C. S. Rafinesque. 

The Yarura nation of the Oronoco regions, (also called Jarura, 
Jaros, Worrow, Guarau, &c.) is one of the darkest and ugliest in 
South America, some tribes of it are quite black like negroes and 
are called monkeys. They are widely spread from Guyana to 
Choco. The following 35 words of their language collected from 
Chili, Hervas and Vater, have enabled me to trace their origin to 
Africa. 

^God Conomeh Anderh 

H Heaven Andeh 

Earth Dabu, Dahu 

Water Uy, Uvi 

River Nicua 

1\Sun and day Dob 

Moon Goppeh 

&«■ Boeboe 



350 



1MBRICAN AN'HQUITISS 



Fire 
Soul 
Wood 
Plain 

1\Bread 

Name 

Give 

Come 

Mayze 
II Man 
Woman 

Father 

Mother 

Head 

Eyes 
UNcse 

Tongue 

Feet 

Evil 

Being 

Our 

Will 

Power 

1 

2 
ff3 



Condeh 

Yuaneh 

Yuay 

Chiri 

Tarab, Tambeh 

Kuen 

Yero 

Manatedi 

Pueh 

Pumeb 

Ibi 

Aya 

Aini 

Pachu 

Yondeh 

Nappeh 

Topeno 

Tao 

Chatandra 

Abecbin. Conom 

Ibba 

Ea 

Beh 

Canameh 

Noeni 

Tarani 



Those marked IT or 7 out of 34 have some analogy with the Eng- 
lish, equal to 19 per cent. 

The language of the Gahunas, negroes of Choeo and Popayan 
has 50 per cent analogy with the Yarura, since out of 8 words to 



be compared, 


4 


are 


similar. 




God 






Conomeh Y 


Copamo G 


Man 






Pumeh 


Mehora 


One 






Canameh 


Amba 


Two 






Noeni 


Nunri 



While the Ashanty or Fanty, negro language widely spread in 
West Africa has 40 per cent of affinity with the Yarura or si^ 
words similar in fifteen comparable. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 351 



Earth 


Dabu.y 




Dade A 


Mother 


Aini 




Mina 


Woman 


Ibi 




Bis 


Father 


Aya 




Aga 


Eyes 


Yondeh 




Ineweh 


Water 


Uy 




Uyaba 


This is the maximum in Africa. 


But the 


language of the Pa- 



puas of New Guinea in Polynesia has 50 per cent of Analogy, or 
six words out of twelve, which is the maximum with the Asiatic 
and Polynesic negroes. 

nr Pumeh Y ) . , -^ 

Mm MehoraGJ Ameneh P 

Woman Ibi Bienih 

Mother Aini Nana 

Water Uy Uar 

Evil Chatandra Tarada 

^ Canameh ) A , , 

One AmbaG J Amboher 

It may have happened that the Gahunas came from the Papuas 
through the Pacific ; but the Yaruras from the Ashantis through 
the Atlantic : yet have been once two branches of a single black 
nation. 

u In support of the doctrine that the three sons of Noah were 
red, black and white, we bring the tradition of the Marabous, the 
priests of the most ancient race of Africans, which says that after 
the death of Noah his three sons one of whom was white, the 
second tawny or red, the third black, agreed to divide his property 
fairly, which consisted of gold and silver, vestments of silk, linen 
and wool, horses, cattle, camels, dromedaries, sheep and goats, 
arms, furniture, corn and other provisions, besides tobacco and 
pipes. 

" Having spent the greater part of the day in assorting these dif- 
ferent things, the three sons were obliged to defer the partition of 
the goods till the next morning. They therefore smoked a friendly 
pipe together, and there retired to rest, each in his own tent. 

11 After some hours sleep, the white brother awoke before the 
other two, being moved by avarice, arose and seized the gold and 
iilver, together with the precious stones, and most beautiful vest- 
ments, and having loaded the best camels with them, pursued his 



352 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

way to that country which his white posterity have ever since in- 
habited. 

" The Moor, or tawny brother, awaking soon afterwards, with 
the same intentions, and being surprised that he had been antici- 
pated by his white brother, secured in great haste the remainder 
of the horses, oxen and camels, and retired to another part of the 
world, leaving only some coarse vestments of cotton, pipes and to- 
bacco, millet, rice, and a few other things of but small value. 

" The last lot ef stuff fell to the share of the black son, the laziest 
of the three brothers, who took up his pipe with a melancholy air, 
and while he sat smoking in a pensive mood, swore to be revenged." 
— AnquetiVs Universal History, vol. 6, p. 117, 118. 

We have inserted this tradition, not because we think it circum- 
stantially true, with respect to the goods, &c, but because we find 
in it this one important trait, viz : The origin of human complex- 
ions in the family of Noah : and if the tradition is supposed alto- 
gether a fiction, we would ask, how came these Africans the most 
degraded and ignorant of the human race — by so important a trait 
of ancient history — as that such a man, with three sons, ever ex- 
isted, from whom the three races descended, if it were not so. 



DISAPPEARANCE OF MANY ANCIENT LAKES OF THE WEST, 
AND OF THE FORMATION OF SEA COAL. 

This description of American antiquities is more captivating than 
the accounts already given ; because to know that the millions of 
maukind, with their multifarious works, covering the vales of all 
our rivers, many of which were once the bottoms of immense lakes, 
and where the tops of the tallest forests peer to the skies, or where 
the towering spires of many a Christiau temple makes glad the 
heart of civilized man, and where the smoking chimnies of his 
widespread habitations— once sported the lake serpent, and the 
finny tribes, as birds passing in scaly waves along the horizon. 

We look to the soil where graze the peaceful flock ; to the fields 
where wave a thousand harvests ; to the air above, where play the 






AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 353 

wings of innumerable fowls; and to the road where the sound 
of passing wheels denote the course of men ; and say, can this 
be so ? Was all this space once the home of the waves ? Where 
eels and shell fish once congregated in their houses of mud is 
now fixed the foundation of many a stately mansion, the dwell- 
ing of man. Such the mutation of matter, and the change of habi- 
tation ! 

We forbear to ramble farther in this field of speculation, which 
opens before us with such immensity of prospect, to give an ac- 
count of the disappearance of lakes supposed to have existed in 
the west. , 

To do this, we shall avail ourselves of the opinions of several 
distinguished authors, as Volney, in his travels in America ; School- 
craft, in his travels in the central parts of the valley of the Mis- 
sissippi ; and Professor Beck, in his Gazetteer of Illinois and 
Missouri. 

We commence with the gifted and highly classical writer, C. 
F. Volney; who, although we do not subscribe to his notions of 
theology, yet as a naturalist we esteem him of the highest class, 
and his statements, with his deductions, to be worthy of attention. 

He commences by saying, that in the structure of the mountains 
of the United States, exists a fact more strikingly apparent than in 
any other part of the world, which must singularly have increased 
the action and varied the movements of the waters. If we atten- 
tively examine the land, or even the maps of this country, we must 
perceive that the principal chains or ridges of the Alieghanies, 
Blue Ridge, &c, all run in a transverse or cross direction, to the 
course of all the great rivers ; and that these rivers have been 
forced to rupture their mounds or barriers, and break through these 
ridges, in order to make their way to the sea from the bosoms of 
the valleys. 

This is evident in the Potomac, Susquehannah, Delaware and 
James rivers, and others, where they issue from the confines of the 
mountains to enter the lower country. 

But the example which most attracted his attention on the spot 
was that of the Potomac, three miles below the mouth of the She- 
nandoa. He was coming from Fredericktown, about twenty miles 
distant, and travelling from the southeast towards the northwest, 
through a woody country, with gentle ascents and descents. After 

45 



354 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

he had crossed one ridge, pretty distinctly marked, though by no 
means steep, began to see before him, eleven or twelve miles west- 
ward, the chain of the Blue Ridge, resembling a lofty rampart, 
covered with forests, and having a breach through it from top to 
bottom. He again descended into the undulating wood country, 
which separated him from it ; and at length, on approaching it, he 
found himself at the foot of this great mountainous rampart, which 
he had to cross, and ascertained to be about three hundred and 
fifty yards high, or one hundred and twenty rods, (nearly half a 
mile) deep. 

On emerging from the wood, he had a full view of this tremen- 
dous breach, which he judged to be about twelve hundred yards 
wide, or two hundred and twenty-five rods, which is about three 
fourths of a mile. Through the bottom of this breach ran the Po- 
tomac, leaving on its left a passable b[«k or slope, and on its right 
washing the foot of the breach. On both sides of the chasm, from 
top to bottom, many trees were then growing among the rocks, and 
in part concealed the place of the rupture ; but about two-thirds of 
the way up, on the right side of the river, a large perpendicular 
space remains quite baie, and displays plainly the traces and scars 
of the ancient land, or natural wall, which once dammed up this 
river, formed of gray quartz, which the victorious river has over- 
thrown, rolling its fragments a considerable distance down its course. 
Some large blocks that have resisted its force, still remain as testi- 
monials of the convulsion. 

The bed of this river, at this place, is rugged, with fixed rocks, 
which are, however, gradually wearing away. Its rapid waters 
boil and foam through these obstacles, which, for a distance of two 
miles form very dangerous falls or rapids. From the height of the 
mountain on each side of the river, and from attending circumstan- 
ces, the rapids below the gap and the narrows, for several miles 
above the immediate place of rupture, are sufficient evidence that 
at this place was originally a mountain dam to the river ; conse- 
quently a lake above must have been the effect, with falls of the 
most magnificent description, which had thundered in their descent 
from the time of Noah's flood till the rupture of the ridge took 
place. 

At the end of three miles he came to the confluence of the river 
Shenandoa, which issued out suddenly from the steep mountain of 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 355 

the Blue Ridge. This river is but about one-third, as wide as the 
Potomac ; having, like that river, also broken through a part of 
the same ridge. 

He says, " the more he considered this spot and its circumstan- 
ces, the more he was confirmed in the belief that formerly the 
chain of the Blue Ridge, in its entire state, completely denied the 
Potomac a passage onward ; and that then all the waters of the up- 
per part of the river, having no issue, formed several considerable 
lakes. The numerous transverse chains that succeed each other 
beyond Fort Cumberland, could not fail to occasion several more 
west of North Mountain. 

" On the other hand, all the valley of the Shenandoa and Coni- 
gocheague, must have been the basin of a single lake, extending 
from Staunton to Chambersburg ; and as the level of the bills, 
even those from which these two rivers derive their source, is 
much below the chains of the Blue Ridge and North Mountain, it 
is evident that this lake must have been bounded at first only by 
the general line of the summit of these two great chains ; so that 
in the earliest ages it must have spread, like them, toward the south, 
as far as the great Alleghanies." 

At that period, the two upper branches of James river, equally 
bounded by the Blue Ridge, would have swelled it with all their 
waters ; while toward the north, the general level of the lake, find- 
ing no obstacles, must have spread itself between the Blue Ridge 
and the chain of Kittatinny, not only to the Susquehannah and 
Schuylkill, but beyond the Schuylkill, and even the Delaware. 

Then all the lower country, lying between the Blue Ridge and 
the sea, had only smaller streams, furnished by the eastern declivi- 
ties of that ridge, and the overflowing of the lake, pouring from its 
summit over the brow of the ridge ; in many places forming cas- 
cades of beauty, which marked the scenery of primeval landscape, 
immediately after the deluge. 

" In consequence, the. river there being less, and the land gene- 
rally more flat, the ridge of talc granite must have stopped the 
waters, and formed marshy lakes. The sea must have come up to 
the vicinity of this ridge, and there occasioned other marshes of the 
same kind, as the Dismal Swamp, near Norfolk;" being partly in 
the states of Virginia and North Carolina. " And if the reader re-, 
collect, the stratum of black mud mingled with osier and. trees^ 



356 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

which is found every where in boring on the coast, he will see in it 
a proof of the truth of this hypothesis." 

But when the great embankment gave away, by the weight of 
the waters above, or by attrition, convulsion, or whatever may have 
been the cause of their rupture, the rush of the waters brought 
from above, all that stratum of earth now lying on the top of these 
subterranean trees, osiers and mud above noticed. 

" This operation must have been so much the easier, as Blue 
Ridge in general is not a homogeneous mass crystalized in vast 
strata, but a heap of detached blocks, of different magnitudes, mix- 
ed with vegetable mould, easily dinusable in water ; it is in fact a 
wall, the stones of which are imbedded in clay ; and as its declivi- 
ties are very steep, it frequently happens that thaws and heavy rains, 
by carrying away the earth, deprive the masses of stones of their 
support, and then the fall of one or more of these, occasions very 
considerable stone slips or avalanches, which continue sometimes 
for several hours. 

" From this circumstance, the falls from the lake must have act- 
ed with the more effect and rapidity. Their first attempts have 
left traces in those gaps with which the line of summits is indented 
from space to space, or from ridge to ridge. It may be clearly per- 
ceived on the spot, that these places were the first drains of the sur- 
plus waters subsequently abandoned for others, where the work of 
demolition was more easy. 

" It is obvious that the lakes flowing off must have changed the 
whole face of the lower country. By this were brought down all 
these earths of a secondary formation, that compose the present 
plain. The ridge of talcky granite, pressed by more frequent and 
voluminous inundations, gave way in several points, and its marshes 
added their mud to the black mud of the shore, which, at present, 
we find buried under the alluvial earth, afterward brought down 
by the enlarged rivers." 

In the valley between the Blue Ridge and North Mountain, the 
changes that took place were conformable to the mode in which the 
water flowed off. Several breaches ' having, at once or in succes- 
sion, given a passage to the streams of water now called James, 
Potomac, Susquehannah, Schuylkill and Delaware, their general 
and common reservoir was divided into as many distinct lakes, sep- 
arated by the risings of the ground that exceeded this level. Each 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 357 

of these lakes had its particular drain, and this drain being at length 
worn down to the lowest level, the land was left completely un- 
covered. 

This must^ have occurred earlier with James, Susquehannah, 
and Delaware, because their basins are more elevated, and it must 
have happened more recently with the Potomac, for the opposite 
reason, its basin being the deepest of all." 

How far the Delaware then extended, the reflux of its waters 
toward the east, he could not ascertain; however, it appears its 
basin was bounded by the ridge that accompanies its left bank, and 
which is the apparent continuation of the Blue Ridge, and North 
Mountain. It is probable that its basin has always been separate 
from that of the Hudson, as it is certain that the Hudson has al- 
ways had a distinct basin, the limit and mound of which were 
above West-Point, at the place called the Highlands, commencing 
immediately below Newburgh. 

To every one who views this spot, it seems incontestible, that 
the transverse chain bearing the name of the Highlands, was for- 
merly a bar to the course of the entire river, and kept its waters at 
a considerable height ; and considering that the tide flows as far as 
ten miles above Albany, is the proof that the level above the 
ridge, was a lake, which reached as far as to the rapids on Fort 
Edward. 

At that time, therefore, the Cohoes, or falls of the Mohawk, did 
not appear, and till this lake was drained off through the gap at 
West-Point, the sound of those falls was not heard. 

The existence of this lake explains the cause of the alluvials, 
petrified shells 3 and strata of schist and clay, mentioned by Dr. 
Mitchell, and proves the justice of the opinions of this judicious 
observer, respecting the stationary presence of waters in ages past, 
along the valley of many of the American rivers. These ancient 
lakes, now drained by the rupture of their mounds, explains ano- 
ther appearance which is observed in the valley of such rivers as 
are supposed to have been once lakes, as the Tennessee, the Ken- 
tucky, the Mississippi, the Kanhaway, and the Ohio. This ap- 
pearance is the several stJges or flats observed on the banks of 
these rivers, and most of the rivers of America, as if the water 
once was higher than at subsequent periods, and by some means 
were drained off more ; so that the volume of water fell lower 



358 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

when a new mark of embankment would be formed, marking tbe 
original heights of the shores of these rivers. 

In none is this appearance more perceptible than the Ohio, at 
the place called Cincinnati, or Fort Washington ; here the original 
or first bank is nearly fifty feet high, and runs along parallel with 
the river, at the distance of about seventy-five rods. The high 
floods sometimes even now overflow this first level. 

At other places the banks are marked, not with so high an an- 
cient shore, but then the lowness of the country, in such places, 
admitted the spread of the waters to the foot of the hills of nature. 
When we examine the arrangement of these flats, which are pre- 
sented in the form of stages along this river, we remain convinced 
that even tbe most elevated part of the plain, or highest level about 
Cincinnati, has been once the seat of waters, and even the primi- 
tive bed of the river, which appears to have had three different pe- 
riods of decline, till it has sunken to its present bed or place of its 
current. 

The first of the periods was the time when the transverse ridges 
of the hills, yet entire, barred up the course of the Ohio, and acting 
as mounds to it, kept the water level with their summits. All the 
country within this level was then one immense lake, or marsh of 
stagnant water. In lapse of time, and from ,the periodical action 
of the floods, occasioned by the annual melting of the snows, some 
feeble parts of the raound were worn away by the water. 

One of the gaps having at length given away to the current, the 
whole effort of the waters was collected in that pijint, which soon 
hollowed out for itself a greater deptVi, and thus sunk the lake se- 
veral yards. The first operation uncovered the upper or first level 
on which the waters had stood, from the time of the subsiding of 
the deluge, till the first rupture took place. 

From the appearance of the shores of the river, it seems to have 
maintained its position after the first draining some length of lime, 
so as distinctly to mark the position of the waters when a second 
draining took place, because the waters had, by their action, re- 
moved whatever may have opposed the first attempt to break down 
their mound or barrier. 

The third and last rent of the barrier took place at length, when 
the fall of the water became more furious, being now more concen- 
trated, scooped ont for itself a narrower and deeper channel, which 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- $59 

is its present bed, leaving all the immense alluvial regions of the 
Ohio bare, and exposed to the rays of the sun. 

It is probable that the Ohio has been obstructed at more places 
than one, from Pittsburgh to the rapids of Louisville* as that below 
Silver creek, about five miles from the rapids of the Ohio, and 
towards Galliopolis and the Scioto, several transverse chains of 
mountains exist, very capable of answering this purpose. Volney 
says it was not till his return from Fort Vincent, on the Wabash, 
that he was struck with the disposition of a chain of hills below 
Silver creek. 

This ridge crosses the basin of the Ohio from north to south, and 
has obliged the river to change its direction from the east toward 
the west, to seek an issue, which in fact it finds at the confluence 
of Salt river ; and it may even be said, that it required the copious 
and rapid waters of this river and its numerous branches, to force 
the mound that opposed its way at this place. 

The steep declivity of these ridges requires about a quarter of an 
hour to descend it by the way of the road, though it is good and 
commodious, and by comparison with other hills around, he con- 
ceived the perpendicular height to be about four hundred feet, or 
twenty-five rods. The summit of those hills, when Volney exa- 
mined them, " was too thickly covered with wood for the lateral 
course of the chain to be seen ;" but, so far as he could ascertain, 
" perceived that it runs very far north and south, and closes the ba- 
sin of the Ohio throughout its whole breadth." 

This basin, viewed from the summit of this range, exhibits the 
appearance and form of a lake so strongly, that the idea of the an- 
cient existence of one here is indubitable. 

Other circumstances tend to confirm this idea, for he observed 
from this chain to White river, eight miles from Fort Vincent, that 
the country is interspersed by a number of ridges, many of them 
steep, and even lofty ; they are particularly so beyond Blue Ridge, 
and on both banks of White river, and their direction is every where 
such, that they meet the Ohio transversely. 

On the other hand, he found at Louisville that the south or Ken- 
tucky bank of the river, corresponding to them, had similar ridges ; 
so that in this part is a succession of ridges capable of opposing 
powerful obstacles to the waters. It is not till lower down the river 
that the country becomes flat, and the ample savannahs of the Wa- 



&60 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

bash and Greeii river commence, which extending to the Mississippi, 
exclude every idea of any other mound or barrier to the waters on 
that side of the river. 

There is another fact in favor of u these western rivers having 
been, in many places, lakes, found in this country ; and is noticed 
as a great singularity. In Kentucky, all the rivers of that country 
flow more slowly near their sources than at their mouths ; which is 
directly the reverse of what takes place in most rivers of other parts 
of the world ; whence it is inferred that the upper bed of the rivers 
of Kentucky is a flat country, and that the lower bed, at the en- 
trances of the vale of the Ohio, is a descending slope." 

Now this perfectly accords with the idea of an ancient lake ; for 
at the time when this lake extended to the foot of the Alleghanies, 
its bottom, particularly towards its mouth, must have been nearly 
smooth and level, its surface being broken by no action of the wa- 
ters ; but when the mounds or hills, which confined this tranquil 
body of water, were broken down, the soil* laid bare, began to be 
furrowed and cut into sluices by its drains, and when at length 
the current became concentrated ia the vale of the Ohio, and de- 
molished its dyke more rapidly, the soil of this vale washed away 
with violence, leaving a vast channel, the slopes of which occasion- 
ed the waters of the plain to flow to it more quickly ; and hence 
this current, which, notwithstanding the alterations that have been 
going on ever since, have continued more rapid to the present 
day." 

" Admitting, then, that the Ohio has been barred up, either by 
the chain of Silver creek, or any other contiguous to it, a lake 
of great extent must have been the result. From Pittsburgh the 
ground slopes so gently that the river, when low, does not run two 
miles an hour ; which indicates a fall of four inches to the mile. 

tl The whole distance from Pittsburgh to the rapids of Louisville, 
following all the windings of the river, does not exceed six hundred 
miles. From these data we have a difference of level amounting 
to two hundred feet," which does not exceed the elevation of the 
ranges of hills supposed to have once dammed up the Ohio river at 
that place. Such a mound could check the waters and turn them 
back as far as to Pittsburgh. 

Such having been the fact, what an immense space of the west- 
ern country must have lain under water, from the subsiding of the 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 361 

Hood till this mound was broken down. This is made apparent by 
the spring freshets of the Ohio, at the present time, which rising 
only to the height of fifty feet, keeps back the water of the Great 
Miami, as far as Greenville, a distance of seventy miles up the 
country to the north, where it occasions a stagnation of that river, 
and even an inundation of its shores to a great extent." 

In the vernal inundations, the north branch of the Great Miami 
forms but one with the south branch of the Miami ; the space be- 
tween becomes one body of water. " The south branch runs into 
Lake Erie, and is sometimes called St. Mary's river. The carry- 
ing place or portage between the heads of these two rivers is but three 
miles, and in high water the space can be passed over in a boat, 
from the one which runs into the Ohio to the other which runs into 
Lake Erie." 

This Mr. Volney states to have been the fact, as witnessed by 
himself on the spot, in the year 1796 ; so near are all these waters 
on a level with each other. He says, that " during the year 1792, 
a mercantile house at Fort Detroit, which is at the head of Lake 
Erie despatched two canoes, which passed immediately, without 
carrying, from the river Huron, running into Lake Erie, to Grand 
river, which runs into Lake Michigan, by the waters overflowing 
at the head of each of these rivers. The Muskingum, which runs 
into the Ohio, also communicates, by means of its sources and of 
small lakes, with the waters of the river Cayahoga, which flows 
into Lake Erie." 

From all these' facts united, it follows that the surface of the level 
country between Lake Erie and the Ohio, cannot exceed the level 
of the flat next to the water of the Ohio more than one hundred 
feet, nor that of the second flat or level, which is the general surface 
of the country, more than seventy feet ; consequently, a mound, or 
range of mountain, of two hundred feet, at Silver creek, six hun- 
dred miles down the Ohio from Pittsburgh, would have been suffi- 
cient to keep back its waters, not only as far as Lake Erie, but 
even to spread them from the last slopes of the Alleghanies, to the 
north of Lake Superior. 

" But whatever elevation we allow this natural monnd, or if we 
suppose there were several in different places, keeping back the 
water in succession, the existence of sedentary waters in this west- 
€fa country, and ancient lakes, such as we have pointed out be- 

46 



362 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

tween Blue Ridge and North Mountain, is not the less an incontro- 
vertible fact, as must appear to every one who contemplates the 
country ; and this fact explains, in a simple and satisfactory manner, 
a number of local circumstances, which, on the other hand, serve 
as proofs of the fact. For instance, these ancient lakes explain 
why, in every part of the basin of the Ohio, the land is always le- 
velled in horizontal beds or different heights ; why these beds are 
placed in the order of their specific gravity ; and why we find in 
various places the remains of trees, of osier, and of other plants. 
They also happily and naturally account for the formation of the 
immense beds of seacoal found in the western country, in certain 
situations and particular districts. In fact, from the researches 
which the inhabitants have made, it appears that the principal seat 
of coal is above Pittsburgh, in the space between the Laurel moun- 
tain and the rivers Alleghany and Monongahela, where exists, al- 
most throughout, a stratum, at the average depth of twelve and six- 
teen feet. This stratum is supported by the horizontal bed of cal- 
careous stones, and covered with strata of schists and slate ; it rises 
and falls with these on the hills and in the valleys, being thicker 
as it rises with the hills, but thinner in the vales. 

" On considering its local situation, we see it occupies the lower 
basin of the two rivers we have mentioned, and of their branches, 
the Yohogany and Kiskemanitaus, all of which flow through a 
nearly fiat country, into the Ohio below Pittsburgh. 

" Now on the hypothesis of the great lake of which we have 
spoken, this part will be found to have been originally the lower 
extremity of the lake, and the part where its being kept back would 
have occasioned still water. It is admitted by naturalists that coal 
is formed of heaps of trees carried away by rivers and floods., and 
afterwards covered with earth." 

These heaps are not accumulated in the course of the stream, 
but in parts out of it, where they are left to their own weight ; 
which becomes saturated with water, within a sufficient lapse of 
time, so as to increase their gravity sufficient to sink to the depths 
below. 

" This process may be observed, even now, in many river of 
America, particularly in the Mississippi, which annually carries 
along with its current a great number of trees. Some of these 
trees are deposited in the bays and eddies, and there left in still 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 863 

water to sink; but the greater part reach the borders of the ocean, 
where the current being balanced by the tide, they are rendered 
stationary and buried under the mud and sand, by the double ac- 
tion of the stream of the river and the reflux of the sea. 

" In the same manner, anciently, the rivers that flow from the 
Alleghany and Laurel mountains into the basin of the Ohio, find- 
ing, towards Pittsburgh, the dead waters and tail of the great lake, 
there deposited the trees and drift wood which they still carry 
away by thousands, when the frost breaks up, and the snows melt 
in the spring. These trees were accumulated in strata, level as 
the fluid that bore them ; and the mound of the lakes sinking grad- 
ually, as we have before explained, its tail was likewise lowered 
by degrees, and the place of deposit changed as the lake receded ; 
forming that vast bed which, in the lapse of ages, has been subse- 
quently covered with earth and gravei, and acquired the mineral 
qualities of coal, the state in which we find it. 

" Coal is found in several other parts of the United States, and 
always in circumstances analogous to those we have just described* 
In the year 1784, at the mouth of the rivulet Laminskicola, which 
runs into the Muskingum, the stratum of coal there took fire, and 
burnt for a whole year. This mine is a part of the mass of which 
we have been speaking ; and almost all the great rivers that run 
into the Ohio, must have deposits of this kind in their flat and long 
levels, and in the places of their eddies. 

" The upper branches of the Potomac, above and to the left of 
Fort Cumberland^ have been celebrated some years for their strata 
of coal embedded along their shores, so that boats can lie at their 
banks and load. 

" Now this part of the country has every appearance of having 
been once a lake, produced by one or more of the numerous trans- 
verse ridges that bound the Potomac, above and below Fort Cum- 
berland. 

" la Virginia, the bed of James river rests on a very considerable 
bed of coal. At two or three places where shafts have been sunk, 
on its left bank, after digging a hundred and twenty feet through 
red clay, a bed of coal, about twenty-four feet thick, has been 
found, on an inclined stratum of granite. It is evident that at the 
rapids, lower down, where the course of the river is still checked, 
it was once completely obstructed : and then there must have 
been a standing water, and very probably a lake." 



364 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

"The reader will observe, that wherever there is a rapid, a stag* 
nation takes place in the sheet of water above, just as there is at s 
mill head ; consequently the drifted trees must have accumulated 
there, and when the outlet of the lake had hollowed out for itself a 
gap, and sunk its level, the annual floods brought down with them 
and deposited the red clay now found there; as it is evident that' 
this clay was brought from some other place, for the earth of such 
a quality belongs to the upper part of the course of the river, par- 
ticularly to the ridge called Southwest. 

" It is possible that veins or mines of coal, not adapted to this- 
theory, may be mentioned or discovered on the coast of the Atlan- 
tic. But one or more such instances will not be sufficient to sub- 
vert this theory ; for the whole of this coast, or all the land between 
the ocean and the Alleghanies, from the St. Lawrence to the West 
Indies, has been destroyed by earthquakes ; the traces of which are 
every where to be seen, and these earthquakes have altered the ar- 
rangement of strata throughout the whole of this space." 

This account, as given by Breckenride, of the appearance of a 
portion of the country between two forks of a small branch of the 
Arkansas river favors this supposition. 

" There is a tract of country," he says, " of about seventy-five 
miles square, in which nature has displayed a great variety of the 
most strange and whimsical vagaries. It is an assemblage of beau- 
tiful meadows, verdant ridges, and misshapen piles of red clay, 
thrown together in the utmost apparent confusion ; yet affording the 
most pleasing harmonies, and presenting in every direction an end- 
less variety of curious and interesting objects. 

" After winding along for a few miles on the high ridges, you 
suddenly descend an almost perpendicular declivity of rocks and 
clay, into a series of level, fertile meadows, watered hy some beau- 
tiful rivulets, and here and there adorned with shrubbery, cotton 
trees, elms and cedars. 

" These natural meadows are divided by chains formed of red 
clay, and huge masses of gypsum, with here and there a pyramid 
of gravel. One might imagine himself surrounded by the ruins of 
some ancient city, and the plains to have been sunk by some con- 
vulsions of nature, more than a hundred feet below its former level, 
for some of the huge columns of red clay rise to the height of two 
hundred feet perpendicular, capped with rocks of gypsum." This 
is supposed to have been the work of an earthquake. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- S6l 

Thus far we have given the view of this great naturalist (Volney) 
respecting the existence of ancient lakes to the west, and of the 
formation of the strata of sea coal in those regions. If then it be 
allowed that timber being deposited deep in the earth, becomes the 
origin of that mineral, we discover at once the chief material which 
feeds the internal fires of the globe. 

The earth, at the era of the great deluge being covered with an 
immensity of forests, more than it now presents, furnished the ma- 
terial, when sunk and plunged to the unknown depths of the then 
soft and pulpy globe, for exhaustless strata of sea coal. 

This, by some means, having taken fire, continues to burn, and 
descending deeper and deeper, spreading farther and farther, till 
the conquerless element has even under sunk the ocean ; from 
whence it frequently bursts forth in the very middle of the sea, ac- 
companied with all the grandeur of display and phenomena of fire 
and water, mingled in unbounded warfare. This internal opera- 
tion of fire feeding on the unctious minerals of the globe, among 
which, as chief, is seacoal, becomes the parent of many a new isl- 
and, thrown up by the violence of that clement. 

We counot but call to recollection in this place, the remarkable 
allusion of Isaiah at chap, xxx., 33, which is so phrased as al- 
most induces a belief that he had reference to this very circum- 
stance, that of the internal fires of the globe being fed by wood car- 
bonated or turned to coal. " For Tophet is ordained of old. * * 
He hath made it deep and large ; the pile thereof is fire and much 
wood ; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone doth kin- 
dle it." 

Various accidents are supposeable by which seacoal may have, 
at first, taken fire, so as to commence the first volcano ; and in its 
operations to have ignited other mineral substances, as sulphur, 
saltpetre, bitumen, and salts of various kinds. An instance of the 
ignition of seacoal by accident, is mentioned in Dr. Beck's Gazet- 
teer, to have taken place on a tract of country called the American 
Bottom, situated between the Kaskaskia river and the mouth of the 
Missouri. On this great alluvion, which embraces a body of land 
equal to five hundred square miles, seacoal abounds, and was first 
discovered in a very singular manner. In clearing the ground of 
its timber, a tree took fire which was standing and was dry, which 



366 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

communicated to the roots, but continued to burn much longer than 
was sufficient to exhaust the free, roots and all. 

But upon examination, it was found to have taken hold of a bed 
of coal, which continued to burn until the fire was smothered by 
the falling in of a large body of earth, which the fire had under- 
mined by destroying the coal and causing a cavity. This is a vol- 
cano in miniature, and how long it might have continued its rava- 
ges with increased violence, is unknown, had it not have so oppor- 
tunely been extinguished. 

But this class of strata of that mineral lies, of necessity, much 
deeper in many places than any other of the kind, deposited since 
the flood, by the operation of rivers and lakes. If, as we have sup- 
posed in this volume, the earth, previous to the flood of Noah, had 
a greater land surface than at the present time, we find in this sup- 
position a sufficiency of wood, the deposition of which being 
thrown into immense heaps by the whirls, waves and eddies of the 
waters, to make whole subterranean ranges of this coal equal in 
size to the largest and longest mountains of the globe. . 

These ranges, in many places, rise even above the ordinary sur- 
face of the land, having been bared 3 since the flood, by the violence 
of convulsions occasioned by both volcanic fires and the irruptions 
of bodies of water and incessent rains. 

If those philosophers who affect to despise the writings of Moses, 
as found in the Book of Genesis, who has given us an account of 
the deluge, would think of this fact, the origin of seacoal, they 
could not but subscribe to this one account at least, which that 
book has given of the flood. 

The insignificant depositions of timber, occasioned by the draw- 
ing off of lakes, or change of water courses, since the flood, can- 
not be supposed to be in sufficient quantities to furnish the vast 
magazines of this mineral, compared with that of the universal flood. 
These strata of coal appearing too in such situation as to preclude 
all idea of their having been formed by the operation of water 
since the flood, so that we are driven, by indubitable deduction of 
fair and logical argument, to resort to just such an occurance as the 
deluge, the account of which is given by Moses in the Scrpiture. 
So that if there were never an universal flood, as stated in the 
Bible, the ingenuity of sceptical philosophy would be sadly per- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 367 

plexed as well as all others, to account for the deposition of wood 
enough to furnish all the mines of this article found over the whole 
earth, in its several locations. 

If another flood were to drown the world, its deposits of timber 
could not equal, by one half, the deposits of the Noachian deluge, 
on account of the land surface of the earth having, under the influ- 
ence of that flood, been greatly diminished. If it be truly said in 
the Bible, that the earth perished by water, and also that the foun- 
tains of the great deep, (subterranean seas,) were broken up, we 
arrive at the conclusion, that there was more wood devoted to the 
purpose of coal creation, because there wbs, it is likely, double the 
quantity of surface of dry land for the forest to grow upon. 



FURTHER REMARKS ON THE DRAINING OF THE WESTERN 
COUNTRY OF ITS ANCIENT LAKES. 

In corroboration of the theory of Mr. Volney on this subject, 
we give the brief remarks of that accurate and pleasing writer, Mr. 
Schoolcraft, w r ell known to the reading class of the public. He 
says, while treating on the subject of the appearance of the two 
prints of human feet, in the limestone strata along the shore of the 
Mississippi, at St. Louis : " May we not suppose a barrier to have 
once existed across the lower part of the Mississippi, converting its 
immense valley into an interior sea, whose action was adequate to 
the production and deposition of calcareous strata. We do not 
consider such a" supposition incompatible with, the existence of 
transition rocks in this valley; the position of the latter being be- 
neath the secondary. Are not the great northern lakes the remains 
of such an ocean ? And did not the sudden demolition of this an- 
cient barrier enable this powerful stream to carry its banks, as it 
has manifestly done, a hundred miles into the gulf of Mexico. 

We think such an hypothesis much more probable, than that the 
every-day deposits of this river should have that effect on the gulf. 
We have been acquainted with the mouths of the Mississippi for 
more thau a century ; and yet its several channels, to all appear- 
ance, are essentially the same as when first discovered. 



$68 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Favoring the same position, or theory, we give from Dr. Beckys 
Gazetteer, a quotation from Silliman's Journal, 3d volume, quoted 
by that author from Bringier, on the Region of the Mississippi, who 
says, that " between White river and the Missouri, are three paral- 
lel prophyry ranges, running circularly from the west to the north- 
east. 

These three mountains are twenty-eight miles across, and seem 
to have been above water, when the whole country around was 
covered by an ocean." 

At the foot of one of these ranges was found the tooth of some 
tremendous monster, supposed to be the mammoth, twice as large 
as assy found at the Big-bone lick. An account of this creature, 
so far as we are able to give it, has already been done, commencing 
on page 144 to 150 inclusive, of this work ; yet we feel it incum- 
bent to insert a recent discovery respecting this monster, which we 
had not seen when those pages went to press. The account is as 
follows : 

There were lately dug up at Massillion, Starke county, Ohio, 
two large tusks, measuring each nine feet six inches in length, and 
eight inches diameter, being two feet in girth at the largest ends. 
The weight of one is as much as two men could lift. The outside 
covering is as firm and hard as ivory, but the inner parts were con- 
siderably decayed. They were found in a swamp, about two feet 
below the surface, and were similar to those found some time ago 
at Bone-lick, in Kentucky, the size of which animal, judging from 
the bones found, was not less than sixty feet k length, and twenty- 
two in height, and twelve across the hips. Each tooth of the crea- 
ture's mouth which was found weighed eleven pounds.-— Clearfield 
Banner, 1832. 

This is, indeed, realizing the entire calculation made by Adam 
Clarke the commentator, who tells, as before remarked, that haviflg 
examined one toe of the creature supposed to be the mammoth, he 
found it of sufficient size and length to give, according to the rule 
of animal proportion, an animal at least sixty feet in length, and 
twenty-five feet high. 

It would seem that in nature, whether of animate or inanimate 
things, each has its giant. Of the materials composing the globe, 
the waters are the giant ; among the continents, Asia ; among fishes, 
the whale ; among serpents, the great Li Boa, of Africa ; among 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- 369 

quadrupeds, the mammoth ; among birds, the condor; among men, 
the Patagonians ; among trees, the banyan of the east ; among herbs, 
the mustard of Palestine. But among quadrupeds, the giant of that 
section of nature, it would appear, has become extinct, by what 
means is unknown : whether a change in the climate, a want of 
food— whether by disease or the arts of the ancient nations — all is 
locked in the fathomless depths of oblivion. 

The animal, however, must have come down, in its species 
from the very outset of time, with all other animals. A male and 
female of this enormous beast must have been saved in the ark ; 
but it is likely the Divine Providence directed a pair that were 
young, and therefore not as large and ferocious as such as were full 
grown would be. The finding of this animal in America is, it 
would appear, incontrovertible evidence that the continent was, at 
some period, united with the old world at some place or places, as 
has been contended in this work ; as so large an animal could nei- 
ther have been brought hither by men, in any sort of craft hitherto 
known, except the ark ; nor could they have swam so far, even if 
they were addicted to the water. 

But to return to the subject of western lakes. How great a 
lapse of time took place from the subsiding of the flood of Noah, 
till the bursting away of the several barriers is unknown. The 
emptying out of such vast bodies of water, as held an almost bound- 
less region of the west in a state of complete submergency, must 
of necessity have raised the Atlantic, so as to envelope in its increase 
many a fair and level country along its coasts, both on this continent 
and those of Europe and Africa. 

In such an emerency, all islands which were low on the surface, 
and not much elevated above the sea, must have been drowned, or 
parts of them, so that their hills, if any they had, would only be 
left, a sad and small memorial of their ancient domains. 

It may have been, that the rush of these mighty waters from the 
west, flowing to the sea at once, down the channels of so many ri- 
vers, which at first broke up and enveloped the land between the 
range of the West India islands and the shores of the Gulf of Mex- 
ico. It is conjectured by naturalists, that the time was when those 
islands were in reality the Atlantic coast of the continent. Some 
convulsion, therefore, must have transpired to bring about so great 
a change, 

47 



370 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

If, as Schoolcraft lias suggested, the Mississippi, in bursting 
down its barriers, drove the earthy matter which accompanied it 
in that occurrence a hundred miles into the sea, it may well be sup- 
posed that if all that space, now the gulf, was then a low tract of 
country, which is natural to suppose, as its shores are so now, that 
it was overwhelmed, while the higher parts of the coast, now the 
West India islands, are all that remains of that drowned country. 

The Gulf of Mexico is full of low islands, scarcely above the le- 
vel of the sea, which have been, from the earliest history of that 
coast, the resort of pirates. Their peculiar situation in this respect, 
would favor the opinion, that the once low and level shores were, 
by the rush and overflowing of the waters, buried to a great extent 
in the country, leaving above water every eminence, which are 
now the islands of the gulf. 

From an examination of the lakes Seneca, Cayuga and Erie, it 
is evident from their banks, that anciently the water stood in them 
ten and twelve feet higher than at present ; these also, therefore, 
have been drained a second time since those of which we have 
been speaking, of which these were once a part. 

It is evident from" the remarks of Breckenridge, which are the 
result of actual observations of that traveller, that there was for- 
merly an outlet from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi, by the way 
of the Illinois river, which heads near the southern end of that lake. 
This is supported by the well known facts, that the waters of all 
the lakes drained by the St Lawrence, has sunk many feet. The 
Illinois shows plainly the marks of having once conveyed a much 
greater body of water between its shores than at the present time. 
All the western lakes, Superior, Michigan, Huron, Lake of the 
Woods, Erie, Seneca, Cayuga, and many lesser ones, are the mere 
remnants of the great inland sea which once existed in this region, 
and the tiraie may come, when all these lakes will be again drained 
off to the north by the way of the St. Lawrence, and to the south 
by other rivers, to the sea, adding a country of land freed in a mea- 
sure from these waters ? as great in extent as ail the lakes put to- 
gether. 

It is believed by the most observing naturalists, that the falls of 
Niagara were once as low down the river as where Queeustown is 
situated, which is six or eight miles below the fall. If so, the time 
may come, and none can tell how soon, when the falls shall have 



AND DISCOVEftlES IN THE WEST. 871 

worn through the stone ridge or precipice, over which the Niagara 
is precipitated, and coming to a softer barrier of mere earth, the 
power of the water would not be long in rending for itseh' a more 
level channel, extending to the foot of Lake Erie, on an inclined 
plane of considerable steepness. One shock of an earthquake, such 
as happened in Virginia, in the vicinity of the coal mines, 1833, 
would probably fracture the falls of Niagara, so as to force the wa- 
ters in its subterranean work, and undermine the falls. 

This would affect Lake Erie, causing an increased current in its 
waters, and the lowering of its bed, which would also have the 
same effect on lakes Michigan, Huron and Superior, with all the 
rest of a lesser magnitude, changing them from the character they 
now bear, which is that of lakes, to that of mere rivers, like the 
Ohio. In the mean time, Ontario would become enlarged, so as to 
rise, perhaps, to a level with the top of the falls, which is one hun- 
dred- and fifty feet. 

Lake Ontario is but about one hundred and fifty feet below the 
city of Utica, and Utica is four hundred feet above the valley of the 
Hudson river ; consequently, deducting the hundred and fifty feet, 
which is the fall of land from the long level, as it is called, on which 
Utica stands, to the lake, there will be left two hundred and fifty 
feet elevation of Lake Ontario above the vale of the Hudson. 

That lake, therefore, need to be raised but a little more than one 
hundred and fifty fettt^ when it would immediately inundate a 
greater part of the state of New- York, as well as a part of Upper 
and all of Lower Canada, till the waters should be carried off by 
the way of the several rivers now existing, on the easterly and 
southerly side of the lake, and by new channels, such a catastro- 
phe would most certainly cut for itself, in many directions, in its" 
descent to the Atlantic. 

§|But we trust such an occurrence may never take place ; yet it is 
equally possible, as was the draining of the more ancient lakes of 
the west. And however secure the ancient inhabitants may have 
felt themselves, who had settled below the barriers, yet that inland 
sea suddenly took up its line of march, to wage war with, or to be- 
come united to, its counterpart, the Atlantic, and in its travel bore 
away the country, and the nations dwelling thereon. 

It is scarcely to be doubted, but the same effects were experi- 
enced by the ancient inhabitants settled between the Euxine or 



372 , AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Black sea and the Mediterranean, and the whole coast of that in- 
land ocean, where its shores were skirted by low countries. 

It is stated by Euclid, in a conversation that philosopher had 
with Anacharsis, of whom we have before spoken in this work, 
that the Black sea was once entirely surrounded by natural em- 
bankments, but that many rivers running into it from Europe and 
Asia, at length overflowed its barriers, cutting for itself a deep chan- 
nel, tore out the whole distance from its own shore to that of the 
Archipelago, a branch of the Mediterranean, which is something 
more than a hundred miles, now called the Bosphorus. 

It is not impossible but from the rush of all these waters at once, 
into the Mediterranean, that at that time the isthmus which united 
Europe and Africa where now is situated the Strait of Gibraltar, 
was then torn away. It is true that the ancients attributed this se- 
paration to the power of Hercules, which circumstance, though we 
do not believe in the strength of this Grecian hero, points out 
clearly that an isthmus once was there. 

By examining the map of the Blaek sea, we rind that beside the 
outlet of the Bosphorus, there is none other ; so that previous to the 
time of that rupture it had no visible outlet. Some internal con- 
vulsions, therefore, must have taken place, so that its subterranean 
channels became obstructed, and caused it at once to overflow its 
lowest embankment, which it appears was toward the Archipelago, 
or the west. 

The Caspian sea, in the same country, has no outlet, though 
many large rivers flow into it. If, therefore, this body of water, 
which is nearly 700 miles long, and nearly 300 wide, were to be 
deranged in its subterranean outlets, it would also soon overflow at 
its lowest points, which is also on its western side, at its southern 
end, and rushing on between the Georgian or Circassian and Tau- 
rus mountains, would plough for itself a channel to the Black sea. 

From this view, the rupturing of the ancient embankments of 
lakes in Europe, Asia and America, it appears that the waters of 
the Atlantic are now, of necessity, much deeper than anciently; on 
which account many fair countries and large islands, once thickly 
peopled, and covered with cities, towns and cultivated regions, lie 
now where sea monsters sport above them, while whole tracts of 
country once merged in other parts of the earth beneath the waters, 
have lifted hills and Jales to the light and influence of the sun, and 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- 373 

spread out the lap of happy countries, whereon whole nations of 
men now live, where once the wind drove onward the terrific 
billows. 



CAUSES OF THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE ANCIENT 
NATIONS, 

But what has finally become of these nations, and where are 
their descendants, are questions, which, could they be answered, 
would be highly gratifying. 

On opening a mound, below Wheeling on the Ohio, a few years 
since, a stone was found, having on it a brand exactly similar to the 
one commonly used by the Mexican nations in marking their cattle 
and horses. 

From this it is evident, that the ancient nations were not savages, 
or a trait of the domestication of animals would not be found in 
the country, they once inhabited. The head of the Sustajases, or 
Mexican hog, cut off square, was found in a saltpetre cave in Ken- 
tucky not long since by Dr. Brown. This circumstance is men- 
tioned by Dr. Drake, in his " Picture of Cincinnati." The nitre 
had preserved it. ' It had been deposited there by the ancient in- 
habitants where it must have lain for ages. 

This animal is not found, it is said, north of the Mexican coun- 
try, the northern line of which, is about on the 40th degree of north 
latitude, and the presumption is that the inhabitants took these ani- 
mals along with them in their migrations, until they finally settled 
in Mexico. Other animals, as the elk, the moose and the buffa- 
lo were doubtless domesticated by them, and used for agricultural 
purposes, as the ox, the horse and various other animals are now in 
use among us. 

The wild sheep of Oregon, Louisama, California and the Rocky 
Mountains, the same found in the north of Asia. May be the 
remnants of the flocks of that animal once domesticated all over 
these regions, by those people, and used for food. 

One means of their disappearance may have been the noxious 
effluvia which would inevitably arise from the bottoms of those 
vast bodies of water, which must have had a pestilential effect on 



S74 ItrilfCJbf ANTIQUITIES 

the people settled ground them. This position needs no elucida- 
tion, as it is known that the heat of the sun, in its action on swamps 
and marshy grounds, fills the region round them with a deathly 
seent, acting directly on the economy and constitution of the hu- 
man subject, while animals of coarser habits escape. 

Who has not experienced this on the sudden draining of stag- 
nant waters, or even those of a mill pond. The reason is, the filth 
settled at the bottoms of such places, becomes exposed by having 
the cover taken away, which w;s the waters, and the winds imme- 
diately wafting the deleterions vapors ; "the surrounding atmosphere 
becomes corrupted ; disease follows with death in its train. 

But on the sudden draining of so great a body of water, from 
such immense tracts of land, which had been accumulating filth, 
formed of decayed vegetation and animals, from the time of the 
deluge till their passage off at that time, the stench must have been 
beyond all conception, dreadful. 

Such is the fact on the subsiding of the waters of the Nile in 
Egypt, which, after having overflown the whole valley of that riv- 
er, about 500 miles in length, and from 15 to 25 in width, leaves 
an insufferable stench, and is the true origin of the plague, which 
sweeps to eternity annually, its thousands in that country. 

It is not, therefore 9 impossible nor improbable, but by this very 
means, the ancient nations settled round these waters, may have, 
indeed, been exterminated ; or if they were not exterminated, must 
have been exceedingly reduced in numbers, so as to induce the re- 
sidue to flee from so dangerous a country, far to the south, or any 
where, from the effects of the dreadful effluvia, arising from the 
newly exposed chasms and gulfs. 

Such, also, would be the effect on the present inhabitants, should 
the falls of Niagara at length undermine and wear down that strata 
of rock over which it now plunges, and drain the lakes of the west, 
the remnant of the greater bodies of water which once rested there. 
In the event of such a catastrophe, it would be natural, that the 
waters should immediately flow into the head water channels of all 
the rivers northeast and south from Lake Ontario, after coming on 
a level with the beads of the short streams passing into that lake 
on its easterly side. 

The rivers running southeast and north from that part of Lake^ 
Ontario as high up as the village of Lyons, are a part of the Che- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 375 

inung, the Chenango, the Unadilla, the Susquehannah, the Dela- 
ware, the Mohawk, the Schoharie, the Au Sable, and the St. Law- 
rence, with all their smaller head water streams. 

The vallies of these streams would become the drains of such a 
discharge of the western lakes, overwhelming and sweeping away 
all the works of men in those directions, as well as in many other 
directions, where the lowness of the country should be favorable 
to a rush of the waters, leaving isolated tracts of high lands, with 
the mountains as islands, till the work of submersion should be 
over. 

All this, it is likely, will appear extremely visionary, but it should 
not be forgotten, that we have predicated it on the supposed demo- 
lition of Niagara falls, which is as likely to ensue, as that the bar- 
riers of the ancient lakes should have given away, where the re- 
spective falls of the rivers which issued from them, poured over 
their precipices. 

" Whoever will examine all the circumstances," says Volney, 
" will clearly perceive, that at the place where the village of 
Queenstown now stands, the fall at first commenced, and that the 
river, by sawing down the bed of the rock, has hollowed out the 
chasm, and continued carrying back its breach, from age to age, 
till it has at length reached the spot where the cascade now is. 
There it continues its secular labors with slow but incessant ac- 
tivity. The oldest inhabitants of the country remember having 
seen the cataract several paces beyond its present place." The 
frosts of winter have the effect continually of cracking the project- 
ing parts of the strata, and the thaws of spring, with the increased 
powers of the augmented waters, loosen, and tumble large Mocks 
of the rock into the chasm below. 

Dr. Barton, who examined the thickness of the stratum of stone, 
and estimates it at sixteen feet, believes it rests on that of blue 
schist, which he supposes forms the bed of the river, as well as the 
falls, up to the Erie. " Some ages hence, if the river, continuing 
its untiring operations, may cease to find the calcareous rock that 
now checks it, and finding a softer strata, the fall will ultimately 
arrive at Lake Erie ; and then one of those great desications will 
take place, of which the valleys of the Potomac, Hudson, and 
Ohio, afford instances in times past." 



376 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



LAKE ONTARIO FORMED BY A VOLCANO, 

Though the northern parts of America have been known to us 
but about two centuries, yet this interval, short as it is in the an- 
nals of nature, has already, says Volney, been sufficient to convince 
us, by numerous examples, that earthquakes must have been fre- 
quent and violent here, in times past. And that they have been 
the principal cause of the derangements of which the Atlantic 
coast presents such general and striking marks. 

To go back no farther than the year 1628, the time of the arri- 
val of the first English settlers, and end with 1782, a lapse of 154 
years, in which time there occurred no less than forty-five earth- 
quakes. These were always preceded by a noise resembling that 
of a violent wind, or of a chimney on fire ; they often threw down 
chimnies, sometimes even houses, and burst open doors and win- 
dows ; suddenly dried up wells, and even several brooks and 
streams of water ; imparting to the waters a turbid color, and the 
fcetied smell of liver of sulphur, throwing up out of great chinks, 
sand with a similar smell- The shocks of these earthquakes seem- 
ed to proceed from an internal focus, which raised the earth up from 
below, the principal line of which run northeast and southwest, 
following the course of the River Merrimack, extending southward 
to the Potomac, and northward beyond the St. Lawrence, particu- 
larly affecting the direction of Lake Ontario. 

Respecting these earthquakes, Volney says, he was indebted to 
a work written by a Mr. Williams, from whose curious researches 
he had derived the most authentic records. But the language and 
phrases he employs are remarkable, says Mr. Volney, for the analo- 
gy they bear to local facts, noticed by himself, respecting the ap- 
pearance of schists on the shores of Lake Erie ; and about the fails 
of Niagara ; and by Dr. Barton, who supposed it to form the bed 
on which the rock of the falls rests. 

He quotes him as follows : — " Did not that smell of liver sul- 
phur, imparted to the water and sand vomited up from the bowels 
of the earth through great chinks, originate from the stratum of 
schist which we found at Niagara, beneath the limestone, and which 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 377 

when submitted to the action of fire, emits a strong smell of sul- 
phur .>" 

It is true, says Volney, that this is but one of the elements of 
the substance mentioned, composing schist, but an accurate analy- 
sis might detect the other. This stratum of schist is found under 
the bed of the Hudson, and appears in many places in the states of 
New- York and Pennsylvania, among the sand stones and granites ; 
and we have reason to presume that it exists round Lake Ontario, 
and beneath Lake Erie, and consequently, that it forms one of the 
floors of the country, in which was the. principal focus of the earth- 
quakes mentioned by Mr. Williams. 

The line of this focus running northwest and southeast, particu- 
larly affected the direction of the Atlantic to Lake Ontario. This 
predilection is remarkable, on account of the singular structure of 
this lake. The rest of the western lakes, notwithstanding their 
magnitude, have no great depth. Lake Erie no where exceeds a 
hundred or a hundred and thirty feet, and the bottom of Lake Su- 
perior is visible in many places. 

The Ontario, on the contrary, is m general very deep; that is to 
say, upwards of forty-live or fifty fathoms, three hundred feet, and 
so on ; and in considerable extent, no bottom could be found with 
a line of a hundred and ten fathoms, which is a fraction less than 
forty reds in depth. 

This is the case in some places near its shores, ani these circum- 
stances pretty clearly indicate that the basin of this lake was once 
the crater of a volcano now extinct- This inference is confirmed 
by the volcanic productions already found on its borders, and no 
doubt the experienced eye will discover many more, by examining 
the form of the great talus, or slope, that surrounds this lake almo? t 
circularly, and announces in all parts, to the eye as well as to the 
understanding, that formerly the fiat of Niagara extended almost 
as far as the middle of Lake Ontario, where it was sunk and swal- 
lowed up by the action of a volcano, then in its vigor. 

The existence of this subterranean fire, accords perfectly with 
the earthquakes mentioned by Williams, as above, and these two 
agents, which we find here united, while they confirm on the one 
hand, that of a grand subterranean focus, at an unknown depth, on 
the other, afford a happy and plausable explanation of the confusion 
of all the strata of the earth and stones, which occurs throughout 

48 



378 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

the Atlantic coast. It explains, too, why the calcareous, and even 
granite strata there, are inclined in the horizon in angles of forty- 
five degrees and upward, even as far as eighty, almost perpendicu- 
lar, or endwise, their fragments remaining in the vacuities formed 
by the vast explosions. To this fracture of the stratum of granite, 
are owing its little cascades ; and this fact indicates that formerly 
the focus extended south beyond the Potomac, as also does this 
stratum. No doubt it communicated with that of the West India 
islands. 

As favoring this supposition of Monsieur Volney, we recollect 
the dreadful earthquakes of 1811 and'1812, on the Mississippi, in 
the very neighborhood of the country supposed to have been the 
scenes of the effects of those early shocks, of probably the same 
internal cause, working now beneath the continent, and sooner or 
later may make again the northern parts of it itspJace of vengeance, 
instead of the more southerly, as among the Andes, and the Cor- 
dilleras of South America. , 

The earthquakes of 1811 and 1812 "took place at New-Madrid, 
on the Mississippi, where its effects were dreadful, having thrown 
up vast heaps of earth, destroying the whole plain upon which 
that town was laid out. Houses, gardens, and the fields were 
swallowed up ; many of the inhabitants were forced to flee, ex- 
posed to the horrors of the scenes passing around, and to the incle- 
mencies of the storms, without shelter or protection. The earth 
rolled under their feet, like the waves of the sea. The shocks of 
this subterranean convulsion were felt two hundred miles around. 

And, further, in evidence of the action of volcanic fires in the 
west of this country, we have the following, from Dr. Beck's 
Gazetteer of Illinois : 

" I visited Fort Clark in 1820, and obtained a specimen of na- 
tive copper in its vicinity. It weighed about two pounds, and is 
similar to that found on Lake Superior, of which the following de- 
scription was given at the mint of Utrecht, in the Netherlands, at 
the request of Dr. Eustis. From every appearance, that piece of 
copper seems to have been taken from a mass that had undergone 
fusion. The melting was, however, not an operation of art, but a 
natural effect, caused by a volcanic eruption. 

"The stream of lava probably carried in its course the aforesaid 
body of copper, that formed into one collection as fast as it was 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 379 

heated enough to run from all parts of the mine. The united mass 
was, probably, borne in this manner to the place where it now rests 
in the soil. Thus we see that even America, in its northern parts, 
as well as many parts of the old world, as it is called, has felt the 
shock of that engine, which is, comparatively speaking 3 boundless 
in power, capable of new modelling the face of whole tracts of 
country, in a few days, if not hours." 

That many parts of the western country have once been the 
scene of the devastating power of voleanos, is also maintained by 
that distinguished philosopher, Rafiuesque. — See Atlantic Journal, 
No. 4, p. 138, 1832. 

He says :— u The great geological question of the igneous or 
aqueous origin of the globe, and the primitive formation, is now 
pretty much at rest. It is become more important to ascertain the 
origin of the secondary formations, with the immense stores of life 
and organic remains therein entombed. 

" No one can be a good geologist without having seen voleanos, 
or, at least, without having studied well their actual operations 
througheut the globe. After seeing the huge voleanos of South 
America, throwing yet streams of water, mud, clay, sand, marl, 
bitumite, pitchstone, &c, instead of melted stones, while the same 
happens also in Java, Spain, Sicily and Russia." 

If by this agent water is thrown out from the bowels of the earth, 
so as to change the entire surface of large disctricts in many parts 
of the old world, why not in America, if the tokens of such opera- 
tions are found here ? 

Volney was the first to call Lake Ontario a volcano, and to notice 
our ancient mountain lakes, now dried up by eruptions or convul- 
sions, each having a breach or water gap. I am induced to amplify 
his views, by deeming nearly all our lakes as many volcanic out- 
lets, which have not merely thrown water in later periods, but in 
more ancient periods have formed nearly all our secondary strata, 
by eruptions of muddy water, mud., clay, liquid coal, basalts, trap. 
This was when the ocean covered yet the land. 

Submarine or oceanic volcanoes exist as yet every where in the 
ocean, and their effects are known. They must of course be hol- 
low outlets under water, that would become lakes if the ocean was 
dried up. We can form an idea of their large number and extent 
by the late but natural discovery, that all the Lagoon islands, and 



380 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

circular clusters of islands in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian 
oceans, are volcanic craters. This is now admitted, even in Eng- 
land ; and the coral reef often crowning those clusters, are later 
superincumbent formations by insects. The Bahama islands in the 
Atlanta , the Maldives, neat India, and the coral islands all over the 
Pacific, a^e the most striking of these singular volcanic clusters, 
nearly at a level with the ocean. Some of them are of immense 
extent, from sixty to one hundred and fifty miles in circuit, or even 
more. 

Some circular bays and gulfs of the sea appear to be similar, dif- 
fering by having only one breach. The Bay of Naples is one also, 
an ancient crater, with islands in front. 

The analogy between lakes and volcanic craters is obvious. Al- 
most all fiery craters become lakes filled wilh water, when their 
igneous activity is spent. 

All springs ire smaller outlets of water, while the fumaroles and 
holes of igneous volcanos are small outlets of smoke 3 fire, air, gases, 
hot mud, &c. I can perceive no essential difference between them, 
or any other eruptive basin, except in degree of caloric or kind of 
matter which they emit. They may both be quiescent or in acti- 
vity. Springs vary as much as vulcanos. We have few pure 
springs ; they commonly hold mineral substances. They are cold, 
warm, hot, salt, bitter, saline, bituminous, limpid, colored, muddy; 
perpetual or periodical, flowing or spouting. Just like volcanic 
outlets. 

Therefore volcanos are properly igneous springs, and springs or 
lakes are aqueous volcanos ! 

Under this view, we have no lack of volcanic outlets in North 
America, since one-half of it, the whole boreal portion, from New 
England and Labrador in the east, to North Oregon and Alaska in 
the west, and from Lake Erie to the boreal ocean, is filled with 
them, being eminently a region of lakes and springs; covered with 
ten thousand lakes at least. 

To these as well as to the dry lakes of our mountains, the lime- 
stone craters and sinks, may be traced as the original outlets of our 
secondary formations, in a liquid state, under the ocean, imbedding 
our fossils The basaltic, trapic, and carbonic formations have the 
sam3 origin, since they are intermingled. But some kinds of sands 
and clays have been ejected since this continent became dry land- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 38l 

To trace all these formations to their sources, delineate their 
streams or banks, ascertain their ages and ravage on organized be- 
ings, will require time, assiduity, zeal, and accurate observations. 

What connection there is between lakes or dry basins of primi- 
tive regions and their formations, is not weli ascertained. Some 
are evidently the produce of cryctalization ; but others forming 
streams, veins, janks and ridges may have been ejected in a fluid 
or- soft state, before organic life had begun, and thus spread into 
their actual shapes. Many streams of primitive limestone, anthra- 
cite, wacke, grit — are probably so formed and expanded. Hollows 
in the primitive ocean must have been the outlets of these sub- 
stances, now become lakes, after the land became dry 

The power which rises and ejects out of the bowels of the earth, 
watery, muddy and solid substances, either cold or inflamed, i? one 
of the secrets of nature ; but we know that such a power or cause 
exists, since we see it in operation. Water rises in lakes and 
springs much above the level of the ocean, while the Caspian sea 
is under that level. There is then no uniform level for water on 
the globe, nor uniform aerial pressure over them. Another cause 
operates within the bowels of the earth to generate and expel li- 
quid and solid substances, — perhaps many causes and powers are 
combined there. Galvanism is probably one of the main agents. 
A living power of organic circulation, would explain many earthly 
phenomena. 

The great astronomer Kepler, and other philosophers, surmised 
that the earth was a great living body, a kind of organized animal 
rolling in space. According to this theory, lakes and 'r^ngs would 
be the outward pores, vents and outlets of this huge being, volca- 
noes inflamed sores and exuvia, water the blood or sap of C-e earth, 
mountains the ribs, rivers the veins. This whimsical conceit is not 
preposterous, since we know of animals perfectly globular, and 
somewhat like our globe — the tethya and volvox for instance. But 
it is only a theoretical surmise, I merely mention it as an illustra- 
tion, and the conception of some great minds ; perhaps a more ra- 
tional idea than the theories deeming this globe a mass of inert 
matter, a globular crystal, or a hollow sphere suspended in space, 
or a rolling ball whirling round the sun. 

Considering, therefore, the omnipotency of the two agents, fire 
and water, so created by Him who is more omnipotent, what chan- 



382 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

ges of surface and of inhabitants may not have taken place in the 
western regions, as well as in the other par's of America. 

We cannot close this subject better than by introducing an Ara- 
bian fable, styled the Revolutions of Time. The narrator is sup- 
posed to have lived three thousand years on the earth, and to have 
travelled much in the course of his life, and to have noced down 
the various changes which took place with respect to the surface 
of the globe in many places, and to have been conversant with the 
various generations of men that succeeded each other. 

This fable we consider illustrative of the antiquities of all coun- 
tries, as well as of the changes which have most certainly taken 
place in our own, as it relates to surface and inhabitants. The 
name of the traveller was Khidr, and his story is as follows : 

I was passing, says Khidr, a populous city, and I asked one of 
the inhabitants, " How long has this city been built ?" But he 
said, "This city is an ancient city; we know not at what time it 
was built; neither we nor our fathers." 

Then I passed by after five hundred years, and not a trace of the 
city was to be seen ; but I found a man gathering herbs, and I ask- 
ed him, " How long has this city been destroyed ?" But he said, 
"The country has always been thus." And I said, " But there 
was a city here." Then he said, " We have seen no city here, 
nor have we heard of such from our fathers." 

After five hundred years, I again passed that way, and found a 
lake, and met there a company of fishermen, and asked them, 
<c When did this land become a lake ?" And they said, " How 
can a man like you ask such a question ? The place was never 
other than it is." " Bat heretofore," said I, " it was dry land." And 
they said, " We never saw it so, nor heard of it from our fathers." 

Then after five hundred years, I returned, and behold, the lake 
was dried up ; and I met a solitary man, and said to him, " When 
did this spot become dry knd ?" And he said, -" It was always 
thus." " But formerly," I said, " it was a lake." And he said, 
u We never saw it, nor heard of it before." 

And five hundred years afterwards I again passed by, and again 
found a populous «ud beautiful city, and finer than I had at first 
seen it ; and I asked one of the inhabitants, " When was this city 
built ?" And he said, " Truly it is an ancient place, and we know 
not the date of its building, neither we nor our fathers." 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- 383 

The human race has every where experienced terrible revolu- 
tions. Pestilence, wars and the convulsions of the globe, have an- 
nihilated the proudest works, and rendered vain the noblest efforts 
of man. 

" Ask not the sage, when and by whom were erected those lin- 
gering ruins of the west, the imperishable memorials of ages, long 
since swallowed up in the ocean of time ; ask not the wild Arab 
where may be found the owner of the superb palace, within whose 
broken walls he casts his tent ; ask not the pooi fisherman, as he 
spreads his nets, or the ploughman, who whistles over the fields, 
where is Carthage ? where is Troy ? of whose splendor historians 
and poets have so much boasted ! Alas ! they have vanished from 
the things that be and have left but the melancholy lesson of the 
instability of the most stupendous labors of our race." 



RESEMBLANCE OF THE WESTERN INDIANS TO THE 
ANCIENT GREEKS. 

The reader may recollect we have shown on page 44, that the 
Greek fleet once moored on the coast of Brazil, South America, 
said to be the fleet cl Alexander the Great, and also the supposed 
Greek carving, or sculpture, in the cave on the Ohio river. See 
page 140. 

In addition, we give from Mr. Volney's View of America, his 
comparison of the ancient Greek tribes v ith the tribes of the west- 
ern Indians. He says the limits of his work would not allow him 
to enter into all the minutse of this interc ting subject ; and, there- 
fore, should content himself with saying, that the more deeply we 
examine the history and way of savage life, the more ideas we ac- 
quire that illustrate the nature of man in general, the gradual form- 
ation of societies, and the character and manners of the nations of 
antiquity. 

While this author was among the Indians of the west, he was 
particularly struck with the analogy between the savages of North 
America and the so much vaunted ancient nations of Greece and 
Italy. In the Greeks of Homer, particularly in those of his Iliad, 



384 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

he found the customs and manners of the Iroquois^ Delawares, and 
Miamas, strikingly exemplified. The tragedies of Sophocles and 
Euripides, pamt almost literally the sentiments of the red men re- 
specting necessity, fatality, the miseries of human life, and the rigor 
of blind destiny. But the piece most remarkable for variety, 
combination of features and resemblance^ is the beginning of the 
history of Tlmcydides : in which he briefly traces the habits and 
way of life of the Greeks, before and after the Trojan war, up to 
the age in whicn he wrote. This fragment of their history appears 
so well adapted, that we are persuaded the reader will be pleased 
at having it laid before him, so that he can make the comparison 
for himself. 

" It is certain that the region now known by the name of Greece 
was not formerly possessed by any fixed inhabitants, but was sub- 
ject to frequent migrations, as constantly every distinct people or 
tribe yielded up their seats to the violence of a larger supervening 
number. For, as to commerce, there was none, and mutual fear 
prevented intercourse, both by land sea ; as then the only view 
of culture was barely to procure a penurious subsistence, as super- 
fluous wealth was a thing unknown. " 

" Planting was not their employment, it being uncertain how soon 
an invader might come and dislodge them from their unfortified ha- 
bitations ; and as they thought they might every where find their 
daily support, they hesitated but little about shifting their habita- 
tions. And for this reason they never flourished in the greatness 
of their cities, or any other circumstance of power. But the rich- 
est tracts of country were ever more particularly liable to this fre- 
quent change of inhabitants, such as that now called Thessaly and 
Boeotia, and Peloponesus chiefly, except Arcadia, and in general 
the most fertile parts of Greece. For the natural wealth of their 
soil, in particular districts, increased the power of some amongst 
them ; that power raised civil dissctntions, which ended in their 
ruin, and at the same time exposed them the more to foreign at- 
tacks." 

It was only the barrenness of the soil that preserved Attica 
through the longest space of time, quiet and undisturbed, in one 
uninterrupted series of possessors. One, and not the least con- 
vincing proof of this is, that other parts of Greece, because of the 
fluctuating condition of the inhabitants, could by no means, in their 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 385 

growth keep pace with Attica. The most powerful of those who 
were driven from the other parts of Greece, by war or sedition, be- 
took themselves to the Athenians for secure refuge, and as they ob- 
tained the privilege of citizens, have constantly, from remote time, 
continued to enlarge that city with fresh accessions of inhabitants ; 
insomuch, that, at last, Attica, being insufficient to support its num- 
bers, they sent over colonies to Ionia. 

The custom of wearing weapons, once prevailed all over Greece, 
as their houses had no manner of defence, as travelling was full of 
hazard, and their whole lives were passed in armour, like barba- 
rians. A proof of this, is the continuance still, in some parts of 
Greece, of those manners which were once, with uniformity, com- 
mon to all. The Athenians were the first who discontinued the 
custom of wearing their swords, and who passed from the savage 
life into more polite and elegant manners. Sparta is not closely 
built ; the temples and public edifices by no means sumptuous, and 
the houses detached from each other, after the old mode of Greece. 

In their war manners they resembled the Indians of America, for 
after a certain engagement they had with an enemy, and being victo- 
rious, they erected a trophy upon Leucinna, a promontory of Cor- 
cyra, and put to death all the prisonners they had taken, except 
one, who was a Corinthian. 

The pretended golden age of those nations was nothing better 
than to wander naked in the forests of Hellas and Thessaly, living 
on herbs and acorns ; by which we perceive that the ancient Greeks 
were truly savages of the same kind as those in America, and plac- 
ed in nearly similar circumstances of climate, since Greece cover- 
ed with forests, was then much colder than at present. Hence we 
infer, that the name of Pelasgian, believed to belong to one and 
the same people, wandering and dispersed about from the Crimea 
to the Alps, was only the generic appellation of the savage hordes 
of the first inhabitants, roaming in the same manner as the Hurons 
and Algonquins, or as the old G Annans and Celts. 

And we should presuiL^ with reason, that colonies of foreigners, 
farther advanced in civilization, coming from the coasts of Asia, 
Phoenicia, and even Egypt, and settling on those of Greece and 
Latium, had nearly the same kind of intercourse with these abori- 
gines ; sometimes friendly, sometimes hostile ; as the first English 

49 



386 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

settlers in Virginia and New-England had with the American la- 
vages. ' 

By these comparisons we should explain hoth the intermixture 
and disappearance of some of those nations, the manners and cus- 
toms of those inhospitable times, when every stranger was an ene- 
my, and every robber a hero ; when there was no law but force, 
no virtue but braverv in war ; when every tribe was a nation, and 
every assemblage of huts a metropolis. 

In this period of anarchy and disorder, of savage life, we should 
see the origin of that character of pride and boasting, perfidiousness 
and cruelty, dissimulation and injustice, sedition and tyranny, that 
the Greeks display throughout the whole course of their history ; 
we should perceive the source of those false ideas of virtue and 
glory, sanctioned by the poets and orators of those ferocious days ; 
who have made war and its melancholy trophies, the loftiest aim 
of man's ambition, the most shining road to renown, and the most 
dazzling object of ambition to the ignorant and cheated multitude: 
And since (he polished and civilized people of Christendom have 
made a point of imitating these nations, and consider their poli- 
tics and morals, like their poetry and arts, the types of all per- 
fection ; it follows that our homage, our patronage, and veneration, 
are addressed to the manners and spirit of barbarous and savage 
times* 

The grounds of comparison are so true, that the analogy reaches 
even to their philosophical and religious opinions ; for all the prin- 
ciples of the stoic school of the Greeks are found in the practice of 
the American savages ; and if any should lay hold of this circum- 
stance to impute to the savages the merit of being philosophers, we 
retort the supposition, and say, we ought, on the contrary, to con- 
clude, that a state of society, in which precepts so repugnant to hu- 
man nature were invented for the purpose of rendering life support- 
able, must have been an order of things, and of government, not 
less miserable than the savage state. This opinion is supported by 
the whole history of these Grecian times, even in their most bril- 
liant periods, and by the uninterrupted series of their own wars, se- 
ditions, massacres, and tyrannical proscriptions, down to the time of 
their subjugation by those other savages of Italy, called the Romans ; 
who, in their character, politics, and aggrandizement, have a strik- 
ing resemblance to the Six Nations. i 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 387* 

With regard to religious notions, these do not form a regular sys- 
tem among the savages, because every individual in his indepen- 
dent state, makes himself a creed after his own fancy. If we may 
judge from the accounts of the historians of the first settlers, and 
those of late travellers in the northwest, it appears that the Indians 
compose their mythology in the following manner : 

First : a Great Manitou, or superior being ; who governs the 
earth and the aerial meteors, the visible whole of which constitutes 
the universe of a savage. This Great Manitou, residing on high, 
without his having any clear idea where, rules the world, without 
giving himself much trouble ; sends rain, wind, or fair weather, 
according to his fancy ; sometimes makes a noise, which is the 
thunder, to amuse himself ; concerns himself as little about the af- 
fairs of men as about those of other living beings that people the 
earth ; does good, without taking any thought about it ; suffers ill 
to be perpetrated without its disturbing his repose, and in the mean 
time, leaves the world to a destiny, or fatality, the laws of which 
are anterior, and paramount, to all things. 

Under his command are subordinate Manitous, or genii, innume- 
rable, who people earth and air, preside over every thing that hap- 
pens, and have each a separate employment. Of these genii, some 
are good ; and these do all the good that takes place in nature ; 
others are bad, and these occasion all the evil that happens to liv- 
ing beings. 

It is to the latter chiefly, and almost exclusively, that the savages 
address their prayers, their propitiatory offerings, and what religious 
worship they have ; the object of which is, to appease the malice 
of these Manitous, as men appease the ill humour of morose, bad 
men. This fear of genii is one of their most habitual thought, and 
that by which they are most tormented. Their most intrepid war- 
riors are, in this respect, no better than their women ; a dream, a 
phantom seen at night in the woods, or a sinister cry, equally alarms 
their credulous, superstitious minds. 

Their magicians, or, as we more properly call them, jugglers, 
pretend to very familiar intercourse with these genii; they are, 
however, greatly puzzled to explain their nature, form, and aspect. 
Net having our ideas of pure spirit, they suppose them to be com- 
posed of substances, yet light, volatile, and invisible, true shadows 
and manes, after the manner of the ancients. Sometimes they se- 




388 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

lect some one of these genii, whom they suppose to reside in a tree, 
a serpent, a rock, a cataract, and this they make their fetih, or god, 
to which they resort, like the African. The notion of another life 
is a pretty general belief among the savages. They imagine that 
after death they shall go into another climate and country, where 
game and fish abound, where they can hunt without being fatigued, 
walk about without fear of an enemy, eat very fat meat, and live 
without care or trouble. The Indians of the north, place this cli- 
mate toward the southwest, because the summer winds, and the 
most pleasing and genial temperature, come from that quarter. 

This sketch of Indian manners, is supposed sufficient by Mr. 
Volney, to prove that there is a real analogy between the mytholo- 
gical ideas of the Indians of North America and those of the Asiatic 
Tartars, as they have been described to us by the learned Russians, 
who have visited them not many years since. 

The analogy between them and the notions of the Greeks, is 
equally evident. We discern the Great Manitou of the savages, in 
the Jupitenof the heroic ages, or their savage times ; with this dif- 
ference only, that the Manitou of the Americans, leads a melan- 
choly, poor, and wearisome life, like themselves ; while the Jupiter 
of Homer, and of Hesiod, displays all the magnificence of the court 
of Hecatompylean Thebes, the wonderful secrets of which have 
been disclosed to us in the present age. See the elegant work of 
Mr. Denon, on the high degree of taste, learning, and perfection, 
at which the arts had arrived in that Thebes, which was buried in 
the night of history, before Greece or Italy were known. 

In the lesser Manitous of the Indians, are equally evident the 
subordinate deities of Greece ; the genii of the woods and foun- 
tains, and the demons honored with a similar superstitious worship. 

The conclusion Volney draws from all this, is not that the In- 
dians have derived their notions from Greece, but rather are deriv- 
able from Shamanism, or the Lamic system of Budda, which spread 
itself from Hindostan among all the savages of the old world, where 
it is found even to the extremities of Spain, and Scotland, and Cim- 
brica. 

Yet as traits of 1L2 Grecian nations are found, especially in South 
America, as in the discovery of the subterranean cavity of mason 
work, noticed on page 44, and in the cave on the Ohio, as noticed 
on page 143, it is not impossible, but that from the Greeks, some- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 380 

time in this country before the Indians found their way here, they 
may have communicated their mythological notions to the more 
ancient inhabitants, from whom the Tartars, or our Indians, when 
they conquered or drove away that people, imbibed their opinions ; 
as it is not without precedent, that the conquered have given to the 
conqueror their religion as well as their country. 



TRAITS OF ANCIENT ROMANS IN AMERICA. 

On pages 40 and 59 inclusive, of this work, we have ventured 
the conjecture, that the Romans colonized various parts of America. 
We still imagine such a conjecture by no means impossible, as to- 
kens of their presence are evidently yet extant in the vale of Mex- 
ico. See page 269, where is an account of a temple, which 
was built and dedicated as sacred to the worship of the sun and 
moon. 

The religions of nations furnish, it is presumed, the strongest 
possible evidence of origin. On this account, the temples of the 
sun and moon in Mexico, exactly answer to the same objects of de- 
votion, worshipped by the ancient Romans. 

That they are similar in both countries, we prove from Gibbon's 
Roman empire, page 233, Vol. 1 st, as follows : — The sun was wor- 
shipped at Emesa, by the Romans, under the name of Elagabalus, 
or God, under the form of a black conical stone, which, it was uni- 
versally believed, had fallen from heaven, on that sacred place. 

This stone, we observe, was undoubtedly what is termed an aero- 
lithis, a copious account of which is given by Dr. Adam Clarke, as 
being thrown out of the moon by the force of volcanic eruptions in 
that planet, which, as soon as they had passed out of the moon's 
attraction, fell immediately to the earth, being drawn hither by the 
stronger force of the centripetal power. A stone falling to the earth 
under such circumstances, was quite sufficient to challenge the ado- 
ration of the pagan nations as coming down from the gods, or from 
the sun, as a representative of that luminary. 



390 AMERICAN ANTQUITIES 

Accordingly, this stone became deified, and was setup to be wor- 
shipped, as the sun's vicegerent among men. Gibbon says that to 
this protecting deity, the stone, Antonius, not without some reason, 
ascribed his elevation to the throne of the Roman empire. The 
triumph of this stone god over all the religions of the earth, was 
the great object of this emperor's zeal and vanity : and the appel- 
lation of Elegabalus, which he had bestowed on the serolithis, was 
dearer to that emperor than all the titles of imperial greatness. 

In a solemn procession through the streets of Rome, the way 
was strewed with gold dust ; the black stone set in precious gems, 
was placed on a chariot drawn by six milk white horses, richly ca- 
parisoned. The pious emperor held the reins, and supported by 
his ministers, moved slowly, with his face toward the image, that 
he might perpetually enjoy the felicity of the divine presence. 

In a magnificent temple, raised on the Palatine Mount, the sacri- 
fices of the god Elagabalus were celebrated with every circum- 
stance of cost and solemnity. The richest wines, the most extra- 
ordinary victims, and the rarest aromatics, were profusely consumed 
on his altar. Around him a chorus of Syrian damsels performed 
their lascivious dances to the sound of barbarian music, whilst the 
gravest personages of the state and army, clothed in long Phoenician 
tunics, officiated in the meanest functions, with affected zeal, and 
secret indignation. 

To this temple, as to a common centre of religious worship, the 
imperial fanatic attempted to remove the Ancilia, the^ Palladium, 
and all the sacred pledges of the faith of Numa. A crowd of in- 
ferior deities attained in various stations, the majesty of the god 
of Emesa, Elegabalus. 

But the court of this god was still imperfect, till a female of dis- 
tinguished rank was admitted to his bed. Pallas had been first 
chosen for his consort ; but as it was dreaded lest her warlike ter- 
rors might affright the soft delicacy of a Syrian deity, the moon ado- 
red by the Africans, under the name of Astarte, was deemed a more 
suitable companion for the sun. Her image, with the rich offerings 
of her temple as a marriage portion, was transported, with solemn 
pomp, from Carthage to Rome ; and the day of these mystic nup- 
tials was a general festival in the capital, and throughout the em- 
pire. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST, 39l 

Here then, at Emesa, in Italy, the Romans worshipped the sun 
and moon ; so did the Mexicans, with equal pomp and costliness, 
in the vale of Mexico. If, therefore, in the two countries, the 
same identical religion, having the same identical objects of wor- 
ship, existed, it would seem, no great stretch of credulity, or exer- 
tion of fancy, to suppose them practised by the same people in ei- 
ther country. 

The ancient Romans, or rather, the Romans after they had riseff 
to great consequence, and had founded and built many cities, were 
remarkable in one particular, over and above all other particulars, 
and this was, in the construction of a grand national road, of three 
thousand seven hundred and forty English miles in length. This 
national road, issued from the Forum of Rome, traversed Italy, 
pervaded the provinces, and terminated only by the frontiers of 
the Empire, and was divided off into distinct miles, by a stone be- 
ing set up at the termination of each, as in the present times. The 
same was the case with ancient people of South America, in the 
times of the Incas ; who, as Humboldt informs us, had one grand 
road, which is even traceable at the present time, of a thousand 
leagues in length, running along on the high ground of the Cor- 
dileras, and was paved with large flat stones the whole length. In 
this very respect, that is, of paving their roads with large stones 
the Romans and the South Americans were alike. For Gibbon 
says, that in the construction of the Roman national highway, they 
not only perforated mountains, raised bold arches over the broadest 
and most rapid streams, but paved it with large stones, and in some 
places even with granite. 

In another respect they are alike ; the Romans raised this road 
so as to be able to overlook the country as it was travelled : so also 
did the Americans, in choosing the high grounds of the Cordileras 
to build it upon. 

It would seem also, that in the very construction of their cities, 
towns, and palaces, as found scattered over many parts of South 
America, even along on the coasts of the Pacific, according to Hum- 
boldt and more recent researches, they modelled them, in some 
sense, after the manner of the Romans ; especially in the vastness 
of their capacity, or area which they occupied- 

However, it is clear, that as the American architecture did not 
partake of the refinement of taste in the finish of their buildings. 



392 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

which characterise those of the Romans, that they, the former, are 
the elder of the two ; and that the American nations in the persons 
of their ancestors came from Africa, and about the country of the 
Mediterranean, in the very first age of their improvement, or de- 
parture from barbarism. From all this it cannot but be inferred, 
that the continent is indebted to that part of the old world for that 
class of inhabitants, who introduced among the first nations of the 
continent, the arts as found in practice by Columbus, when he 
landed on its shores. 

With this view, we think there is light thrown on the curious 
subject of the Mexican tradition, with respect to the white and 
bearded men before spoken of in this volume ; who, as they say, 
came among them from the rising sun, and became their legislators. 
And as the Romans were a maritime people, and had become re- 
fined, long before the savages of the north of Europe, and made, 
according to Gibbon, prodigious voyages, they may have been the 
very people who colonized the island of Jesso and Japan, who 
were a white and bearded race, from whom, in another part of this 
work, we have supposed these Mexican legislators may have been 
derived; in either case, there is no difficulty; the origin is the 
same. 

We are firm in the belief that the Carthaginians, Phoenicians, 
Roman and Greek nations of antiquity, have had more to do in the 
peopling of the wilds of America, as well also as the Europeans, 
after their civilization, than is generally supposed. 

There was found among the nations of Mexico, another trait of 
character strongly resembling a^Roman practice ; and this was, that 
of single combat with deadly instruments, called the fight of the 
Gladiators. This among the Romans was carried to so shameful 
and murderous a degree, that Commodus, one of their emperors, 
killed, with his own hands, as a gladiator, seven hundred and thir- 
ty-five persons. 

Of this emperor, Gibbon says, that being elated with the praises 
of the multitude, which gradually extinguished the innate sense of 
shame, Commodus resolved to exhibit before the eyes of the Ro- 
man people, those exercises, which till then he had decently con- 
fined within the walls of his palace, and to the presence of his fa- 
vorites. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 393 

On the appointed day, the various motives of flattery, fear, and 
curiosity, attracted to the amphitheatre an innumerable multitude 
of spectators ; and some degree of applause was deservedly bestow- 
ed on the uncommon skill of the imperial performer. Whether he 
aimed at the head or heart of the animal, the wound was alike cer- 
tain and mortal. With arrows whose point was shaped in the 
form of a crescent, Commodus often intercepted the rapid career, 
and cut asunder the long and bony neck of the ostrich. 

A panther was let loose, and the archer waited till he had leap- 
ed upon a trembling malefactor. In the same instant the shaft 
flew, the beast dropt dead, and the man remained unhurt. The 
dens of the amphitheatre disgorged at once a hundred lions ; a hun- 
dred darts in succession, from the unerring hand of Commodus, laid 
them dead as they ran raging around the arena. Such it appears 
were the prowess and the sports of the ancient Romans, whose 
counterpart, as it respects this peculiar trait, the fight of the gladia- 
tor, was found among the Mexican usages of North America. 

Again, when the Romans first got footing in the island of Britain, 
they erected, or laid the foundation of a town, which they named 
Verulam, which soon took the title and rank of a city. This town, 
according to their peculiar manner, was at first circumscribed by a 
wall, including about an hundred acres, the traits of which still 
appear. 

These square inclosures are found in America, as treated upon 
in our account of the Roman squares at or near Marietta ; strength- 
ening the belief that Roman colonies have, in former ages, settled 
in America. 



AMERICAN LANGUAGES— WAHTANI OR MANDAN. 

The vocabularies of languages collected by Lewis and Clarke, 
in their memorable journey to the Pacific Ocean, appear to have 
been lost and never published. It is said they were put into the 
hands of Dr. Benj. Barton, who made no use of them ; since his 
death they have disappeared, and cannot be traced any where. 

I met in Lexington, Ky. Mr. George Shannon who was one of 
the companions of Lewis in that voyage, and who furnished me 

50 



394 



AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



with some words of the Mandans on the Upper Missouri, who lie 
said call themselves Whatanis, these added to a few scattered m 
Lewis' Travels, form the following 32 words. 



"Father 




Papa 


Black 




Sahera 


Mother 


. 


Nayeh 


Red 




Nopa 


"Man 




Numakeh 


Knife 




Maheh 


Woman 




Mikheh 


*No 




Nicosh 


Water 




Minih 


Big 




Ahinah 


God 




Hupanish 


Little 




Hami 


Hill 




Naweh 


Fox 




Ohhaw 


Village 




Ahnah 


Cat 




Poscop 


Meat 




Mascopi 


Wild Sheet 


Ahsatah 


Corn 




Cohanteh 


Mocasi 


n 


Orup 


Cold 




Shinihush 


Wolf 




Shekeh 


White 




Shahar 










i 


Mahanah 




6 


Kim ah 




2 , 


Nupah 




7 


Kupah 




3 


Nameni 




8 


Tetoki 




4 


Topah 




*9 


Macpeb 




5 


Kehun 




10 


Pirokeh 



The 4 words marked * have some analogy with the English 9 
through remote courses as usual, equal to 12 per cent, of mutual 
affinity. 

This language is totally new to the learned, it is found in none 
of the great philological works. It is stated by Lewis to differ 
widely from the Minitari, allies and neighbors of the Mandans, al- 
though a dialect of it ; both are referred to the great Pakhi family 
of the North, themselves a branch of fii% Skereh or Panis group 
of nations and languages. But this surmise appears to me errone- 
ous, I can see but little analogy with the Panis and Recara dia- 
lects ; but instead, many similarities with the Yancton and Konzas 
dialects of the Missouri tribes. The Wahtasuns or Ahnahaways 
of Lewis, called Ayawahs by Shannon, are a branch of the Otqs 
and Ayowehs of lower Missouri, although settled near the Man- 
dans, and speaking an akin dialect. 

The word mini for water is found in all the Missouri tribes. In 
comparing the 10 Mandan numbers with the list of decimals in 5( 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 395 

N. A. dialects in Tanner's Narrative, the greatest amount of analo- 
gies are found in the 

Konza 1. Meakche, 2 Nonpah, 3 Topah. Analogy 30 per ct 
nearly the same in Omawah. 

Yancton 1 Wanchah, 2 Nonpah 3 Yahmene, 4 Topah. Equal 
to 40 per ct. the same in the Dakotah or Sioux. 

Minitari 2 Nohopah, 3 Nahme, 4 Topah, 5 Chehoh, 6 Acahme, 
7 Chappo. Equal to 60 per cent, of analogy. 

While the Pani has only 10 p. cent of analogy by the single 
number 2 Patko. The Muscogih so far to the S. E. has even 
more or 20 per ct. in 1 Homai, 10 Pekole ; but they are very 
remote. 

Mr. Catlin, who has visited the Mandans this year, 1832, says 
they are properly called Siposka-nukaki meaning people of the 
pheasant ! thus we have 3 names for this nation, this is not unusual, 
each nation having many nick-names in N. America. He says 
they are reduced to 1800 souls, and that the Minitari speak a dia- 
lect of the Upsaroka or Crow Indians. 

C S. RAFINESQUE. 



Languages of Oregon— Chppunish and Chinuc. 

Mr. Shannon confirmed the fact that only 3 languages were met 
with in the Oregon mts and country. 1 The Shoshonis in the mts ? 
2 Chopunise from mts to the falls of the Oregon or Columbia R. 3 
Chinuc from hence to the Pacific Ocean, But they are spoken in 
a multitude of dialects. 

The Shoshoni is pretty well known to be a branch of the Alie- 
tan or Western Skereh, spoken as far as Mexico. The other two 
are less known. Mr. S. could only furnish 12 words of Chopun- 
ish, a few more met with in Lewis and Cox enable me to give 24 
words of it 



Sky 


Tetoh 


f Far am ay 


Wayot 


Water 


Mekish 


-fMoss 


Nashne 


River 


Ishkit 


Ann 


Tunashe 


Land 


Kaimo 


iHead, top 


Chop 


^Father 


Papa 


Fiat 


Unish 


Son 


Illim 


Cut 


Pakehuk 


fSun 


Spokaia 


Broken 


Mutult 



396 



AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



Road 


Ahish 


Bear 


Ya 


Buffalo 


Cokala 








Fall 




Tim. 




1 Nox 




4 Pilapt 




2 Lappit 




9 Quis 




3 Mutat 




flO Potemt 



It is singular that this uncouth language has six analogies "f out 
of 24 with the English, by primitive connection, equal to 25 per 
cent. It is therefore Asiatic like the Saca or old Saxon. 

I am at a loss to refer it to any group of American languages, 1 
had put it among the Wakash or Nutka group in my table ; but it 
is widely separated from it. New to science as well as the next. 

Of the Chinuc I have collected 33 words from Cox, Lewis, 
and other sources. Cox calls it unutterable and says it lacks F. 
V. R. 



Chief 


Tia, Taye 


t Whale 




Ecola 


Good 


Clouch 


Money 




Haiqua 


•\Cake 


Pacheco 


Beads 




Comoshuk 


^Island 


Ela 


Dog 




Camux 


Gods 


Etalapass 


Deer 




Mulak, Lap 




Etanemi 


Bear 




Host 


Men 


Tillikum 


Salmon 




Equannat 


Give 


Pattach 


Tobaccc 




Quayenult 


|J, me 


Maik 


Pipe 




Kulama 


There 


Kok 


Gun 




Sakqualal 


Sit down 


Mittait 


Blanket 




Poclishqua* 


I do not understand Wake Comatox 






The decimals 


I have in two dialects. 






1 Ect, Icht 


6 


Tuckun 


i, Tackut 


2 Moxt, 


Makust 


7 


Sinanixl 


, Sinbakust 


3 Clunc, 


Thlown 


8 


Stutkin, 


Stuktekan 


4 Uct, Lakut 


9 


Quay els, Quayust 


5 Quanim, quanum 


10 


Taitlelum, Italilum. 



The 4 marks j indicate 4 in 33 of analogy with the English, 
equal to 12 percent. 

3 words, man, 9 and 10 have a slight analogy with the Chopun- 
ish out of 9 in the two lists, which gives 33 per cent, of ana- 
logy. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 39? 

North of the Chimic and Chopunish, are found the Wakash and 
Atnah tribes and languages, the last has many dialects connected 
with the western Lenilenap group and it appears that both the 
Chinuc and Chopunish have more analogies with them than with 
the Wakash : the word man is an instance and proof of it. 

In the Wakash the numbers have some slight affinities with 
those of the Onguys and Wiyandots of the East, while in the 
Chinuc and the others, these decimals resemble the Shawani and 
other Eastern Lenilenap Dialects. Examples. 

Musqnaki. 1 Nekot 3 4 Kotwauskik, 5. Kotwauswa, 9. Shaunk. 
4 in 10 or 40 per cent, with Chinuc. 

Shawani. 1 Nguti, 5. Ninlanwi, 6. Kukatswi, 10. Matatswi, 
also 40 per cent. 

Mohegan. 1 Ugwito, 5. Nunon 6 Ugwitns, 10 Neteumit also 40 
per cent. 

I conclude therefore that the Chinuc (and perhaps the Chopun- 
ish also) is one of the Lenapian languages of the West, one of the 
fragments of that vast ancient nation that has spread from the Pa- 
cific to the Atlantic Ocean in 200 Nations and tribes. The Ainus 
of Eastern Asia appear to be their ancestors. 

C. S. RAFINESQUE. 



THE GOLD REGIONS IN THE SOUTHERN STATES. 

From the American Journal of Science and Arts, we have a 
highly interesting description of the gold districts in Georgia and 
North Carolina, extending west even into the state of Tennessee. 
In this Journal, gold is treated upon as being extremely abundant, 
and from the situation of the veins, is far more eligible to the ope- 
rations of the miner, than the gold mines of South Amerca ; these 
having, as is supposed, been greatly deranged in places, and buried 
deep by the operations of volcanoes ; while those in the states are 
still in their primitive state of formation. 

Gold is found connected with various formations of slate, with 
red clay, and in the bottoms of streams, mingled with the sand and 
gravel. It is found with the heavy gravelly earth of the moun- 
tains, but most of all, in the kind of rock called quartz, which is 
also mingled with slate. In North Carolina, on Valley River, gold 
is found in abundance, connected with the quartz rock, which also 



398 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

abounds with chrystal, running in veins in every direction, in tis- 
sues from the size of a straw to that of a man's arm. The quartz 
is in great masses very compact, and of a yellow golden hue, from 
the abundant presence of the metal. In the bottom of this river 
much deposited gold is found in strata. 

It would appear, from the evidences yet remaining, that the an- 
cient inhabitants were not insensible to the existence of the golden 
mines here, nor, of course, of its value ; for, " in the vicinity were 
found the remains of ancient works ; many shafts have been sunk 
by them in pursuit of the ore, and judging from the masses thrown 
up, one of them penetrated a quartz rock to a great depth, as about 
thirty feet still lies open to view. 

There is also a deep and difficult cut across a very bold vein of 
this rock, in pursuit of metal, but it is now much filled up, having 
been used subsequently for an Indian buying ground. At this 
place, says the Journal, nothing short of th% steel pickaxe, could 
have left the traces on the stone which are found here. 

Not far from this place, have been found the remains of a small 
furnace, the walls of which had been formed of soap stone, so as 
to endure the heat without being fractured. In the county of Ha- 
bersham, in North Carolina, was lately dug out of the earth, at a 
place where the gold ore is found, a small vessel in the form of a 
skillet. It was fifteen feet under ground, made of a compound of 
tin and copper, with a trace of iron. The copper and tin in its com- 
position, are undoubtedly the evidence of its antiquity. See the 
plate at letter G, where an exact facsimile of this vessel is engraved 
taken from the Journal of Science and Arts, conducted by Profes- 
sor Siiliman. 

Crucibles of earthen ware, and far better than those now in use ; 
are frequently found by the miners who are now working the mines 
of North Carolina. By actual experiment they are found to en- 
dure the heat three times as long as the Hessian crucibles, which 
are the best now in use. Bits of machinery, such as is necessary 
in elevating the ore from the depths, as used by the ancient na- 
tions, are also frequently found in the earth where those mines 
exist, which clearly shows those ancients acquainted with .the 
minerals. 

On the top erf Yeona mountain, in the same region, still exist 
the remains of a stone wall, which exhibit the angles of a fortifies- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 399 

tion, and guard the only accessible points of ascent to its summit. 
Timber in the Cherokee country, bearing marks of the axe, (not 
of stone,) have been taken up at the depth of ten feet below the 
surface. Indian tradition, says Mr. Silliman, gives no account of 
these remains. This article, which was found in the gold mine in 
Habersham county, formed of copper and tin, is in this respect, like 
the mining chissel described by Humboldt, on page 185 of this 
work. The timber found ten feet beneath the surface, in Georgia 
and North Carolina, bearing the marks of having been cut down 
and cut in two with axes of metal, are to be referred to the opera- 
tions of the Europeans — the Danes, Welch i &c, of whom we have 
already spoken in severel parts of this volume. We consider them 
the same with the authors of the stone walls which we have men- 
tioned that were found in North Carolina, and also with the authors 
of the iron axes, found in a saltpetre cave, on the river Gasconade, 
far to the west, as mentioned in Beck's Gazetteer ; and also the 
same with the authors of the stone buildings, a foundation of one 
of which is represented on the plate. See Frontispiece. 

It would appear from all this, that these Europeans had made 
extensive settlements in various places, extending over an immense 
range of this country, before they were cut off by the Indians ; as 
we cannot suppose any other enemy capable of so dreadful and ge- 
neral a slaughter. 

It is said that the ancient Phoenicians first discovered the art of 
manufacturing tools from the union of copper and tin, the same of 
which this skillet is found to be formed ; and that of the Phoeni- 
cians, the Greeks and Romans, learned the art, who it is likely 
communicated the same to the ancient Britons ; and from these, in 
process of tim«, the Danes, the Welch, the Scotch, arid the Norwe- 
gians, brought it with them to the wilds of America. Or if we re= 
ject this, we may refer the working of those mines of gold, not to 
the Malays, Polynesian, and Australasian tribes ; but rather to the 
more enlightened nations of Egypt, Phoenicia, Greece, Rome, Me- 
dia, Persia, Germany, all of whom, as we believe, have from time 
to time — from era to era — furnished emigrants to this country. 

In evidence, in part, of this belief, we refer the reader to such 
parts of this volume as attempt to make this appear, and especially 
to page 116 ; where an account of the Phoenician characters, as 
having been discovered in America, is mentioned. But how the 



400 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

article of copper, of which we have spoken, and is engraved on the plate, and 
how the timber, which bears the mark of the axe, found buried in various places 
in North Carolina, came to be buried so deep, is a question of no small moment. 

Surely the natural increase of earth, by the decay of vegetables, and forests, 
could never have buried them thus deep; their position would rather argue that 
they have been submerged by the the sudden rush of waters. As favoring this 
opinion, we notice, that the mountain ranges here are such as cross the rivers 
flowing from the west, which pass off to the sea, through North Carolina, South 
Carolina, and Georgia. See the map of those states, when at once this appears 
to be the real formation and course of the mountains. 

One of these ranges is denominated the Yeona range ; which gives off three 
separate sections ; one in Tennessee, one in western North Carolina, and one 
in Georgia, all running along the western ends of these states, which lie along 
the Atlantic. The Blue Ridge and the Wuaka mountains approach each other, 
and form jointly the separation of th e E . from the W. waters. As this range contin- 
ues from the west ; another range, not less formidable, approaches from the north. 
These are the Waldeus ridge, and Cumberland mountains, which uuite them- 
selves with the former; when this union takes the name of Lookout Mountain - 
At this point of intersection, where the union of immense mountains on either 
side, formed a barrier to the streams which flowed from fifty thousand square 
miles of country, the waters broke through. 

The evidence at this place, of the war of the elements, is the admiration of 
all who pas^s the broken mountain, through what is called the suck, and boiling, 
chaldron, near the confines of the state of Tennessee. - At this place, the vast 
accumulation of waters, it is evident, broke through, and deluged the country 
below, toward the sea, overwhelming whatever settlements the Danes, or other 
people of the old world, may have made there, especially along the lowest 
grounds, till the waters were drained to the Atlantic. This position easily ac- 
counts for the appearances of such articles as have been disintered, with that 
of timber, from the depths mentioned in the Journal of Science. Such a cir- 
cumstance may have gone far to weaken the prowess of those nations. So that 
they could not, from the survivors dwelling on the highest grounds, soon recov- 
er their numbers, their order, their state of defence and security, against the 
Indians farther west, who it is likely, watched all opportunities to destroy them. 

Finally, from all we can gather on this momentuous subject, we are compel- 
led from the overwhelming amount of evidence to admit that mighty nations, 
with almost unbounded empire, with various degrees of improvement, have oc- 
cupied the continent, and that, as in the old world, empire has succeeded 
empire, rising one out of the other, from the jarring interests of the unwieldy 
and ferocious mass: So also in this. 

And, also, that convulsion has succeeded convulsion, deluge succeeded de- 
luge, breaking down mountains, the barriers of rivers, deranging and destroy- 
ing the ancient nations, till it has, at length, assumed a settled and more perma- 
nent state of things, where the happy millions of the present race now in- 
habit in great America. 



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